Running With The Pack
by shiki94
Summary: For as long as Kaitlyn Bonin could remember, she could see things no one else could. These things never hurt her, only watched her. One night, however, her life is brought to its knees by an attack. The only thing that she can make sense of is being saved by three wolves. Memories of the attack haunting her, Kaitlyn finds herself pulled into a world she never even knew existed. AU
1. A New Day

**Remember a few months ago when I had a poll up on my profile to help with choosing a pairing for a future fic? This is what that poll was for. I feel that with Halloween coming up soon, it'd be fun to work with writing a fic that has a few spooky elements in it (wolf-people/werewolves, demons, and more of that spooky goodness). So, I hope all you good readers enjoy this. =)**

**Disclaimer: I own none of the Superstars, Divas, and other wrestlers, past and present, used in this fic. They are the property of themselves, the WWE, TNA, ROH, and OMEGA. All I own are the ideas going into the fic and my OC, Alex Hardy. Disclaimer out of the way, I hope you guys enjoy. =)**

_'Just keep running,' the woman thought, her breath burning in her lungs. 'Just keep running and don't look back.'_

_ Every night it seemed like the same thing happened to her: She'd just be calmly taking a walk through the forest, when suddenly, the atmosphere of the wooded area would change in the blink of an eye. The normally calm and peaceful woodland area would instantly be transformed into a world that haunted her nightmares. The trees seemed to close in on her as snarls and growls could be heard all around her. Not wanting to find out the source of any these noises, the woman just ran because she felt that that was all that could protect her from being found and eaten by whatever lurked and hid in the trees. Her efforts would always be in vain, however, as she would end up being caught by one of the monsters and dragged towards its gaping mouth. Screaming as she tried in vain to grab hold of something possibly rooted into the forest floor, the woman then finally yelled "Somebody! Anybody! Please help!"_

...

"Help!" Kaitlyn Bonin yelled as she shot out of her bed, a thin sweat coating her forehead. Trying to catch her breath, Kaitlyn looked around the bedroom in her apartment in a bid to try to bring herself back to reality. Holding her head in her hands, Kaitlyn thought _'Relax, Bonin. It was all just a dream. Just a hellish, nightmarish dream that you've been dealing with for the past few years.'_ Groaning in frustration that it seemed like her inner reassurance talk wasn't working, Kaitlyn decided to get out of bed and go about getting ready for her day. As she went to get her clothes, Kaitlyn thought _'Please just let me get a few minutes to myself before things get crazy.' _After showering, brushing her teeth, getting dressed and finishing the rest of her morning routine, Kaitlyn grabbed her wallet, phone, and keys before leaving her apartment and locking the door behind her. Everything seemed normal as she headed downstairs; however, that all changed once she left the building and stood on the sidewalk.

As was the case, just as it seemed every day, Kaitlyn soon found herself bombarded with the unwanted annoyance of seeing her usual morning walking companions. For as long as Kaitlyn could remember, she could always see things that no one else could. These things tended to run the gambit of being either tiny creatures, no bigger than a small butterfly, or, in rare cases, creatures the size of small dogs. She didn't know why she could see these things; she just knew that she could and couldn't bring herself to tell anyone close to her about what it is that she saw, not even her parents. Sometimes Kaitlyn's second sight made the two-toned woman feel alone; just the fact that she had no one to have a stable enough talk with gave Kaitlyn the impression that some day, she'd end up going crazy and ending up in the mental ward of a hospital.

_'Because that's what I want my mom and dad to know,'_ Kaitlyn thought, as she continued her walk to her job and did her best to ignore the chittering of the creatures that kept their orbit around her. _'That their only child ended up in a damn funny farm for talking about seeing stuff like fairies and two-tailed cats.'_ Shaking her inner frustrations away, Kaitlyn soon found herself coming up on the coffee shop where she worked. One of the best things that Kaitlyn felt came with working at a coffee shop in New Orleans was that they always had a steady stream of business because of the people there always being in need of a rush to stay alert and on the go; the steady flow of customers also helped take her mind off of the creatures that seemed to tail her every day. _'Plus it doesn't hurt that we're at our busiest during Mardi Gras. Which is starting in a couple days,'_ Kaitlyn thought with a smile working its way across her face. Heading inside of the coffee house, Kaitlyn thought _'Today's going to be a good day. Even if I have to deal with the creatures, I won't let them distract me from working. Nothing can go wrong today. I can feel it.'_ But even as these thoughts cascaded around her head, Kaitlyn just knew that they were lies. Just like her more positive thoughts always turned out to be.

...

"Looks like everything's in tip-top shape for you, Seth," the younger brunette said, stepping away from the older two-toned man as she wrote down notes on the two-toned man's current condition. "Nothing's broken, there are no traces of poison in your system, and any scratches you had have healed over already."

"That's a relief to hear," Seth Rollins said as he pulled his black muscle shirt back on. "I swear if it wasn't Roman demanding I come get checked out, then it was Trish threatening to use a dog whistle on me until I caved and came here. Which is kind of pointless in her case since she's one of the docs here too."

"They just want to make sure that you're OK," the brunette said, smiling softly up at the older man. "After all, you're one of the fastest guys here. The guys lose you, they're down a speedster."

Smiling at the girl's reassuring words, Seth said "I guess you're right, Alex. Just feels like a pain to have to come in here when there's nothing wrong with me."

"It's like I said, Seth," Alex Hardy said, putting her notebook and pencil down on one of the counters in the room. "Everyone just wants to make sure that everyone's in top health. As crazy as stuff is for us, it's no wonder why personal health is a top priority."

Understanding what Alex was telling him, Seth said "I know, I know. Especially you, the other girls, and the older adults. Me and the other guys just want to make sure you all are protected and safe from any harm."

"And we'll always thank you guys for that," Alex said, smiling up at Seth. "We owe you our lives and no amount of thanks could ever express our gratitude for you guys keeping us safe."

"Well, I know one way _you _could make it up to _me_," Seth said.

"If you're implying what I think you're implying, then you won't even have to worry about Trish getting the dog whistle on you because either Matt or Jeff'll beat her to it," Alex said.

"No! Of course not! Besides, you're too much of a little sister to me to even make me see you that way," Seth said, a slight pang of nervous fear striking him at the thought of what Alex's older brothers would do to him. "I was thinking maybe you could make me some of those double chocolate cookies of yours."

Hearing this request coming from Seth, Alex laughed a little before saying "I'll see what I can do. You'll have to make sure you keep them secret from Dean so that he doesn't try to eat them while you're not looking. The last thing we need is to replace more furniture just because you and Dean got in a deathmatch fight over some cookies."

"I'll never get what his deal with stealing food from me is anyways," Seth said as he and Alex left the room they were in and headed for the stairs.

"I think it's his way of really showing how much of a brotherly bond there is between you, him, and Ro," Alex said. "That's how Matt and Jeff are with Cody, but I think it's mostly in the case that they treat him like the younger brother he is to a lot of the others."

"Brotherly bond, huh," Seth said, thinking over Alex's words as the two got to the bottom of the staircase.

"I heard talk of cookies," a sandy haired blonde said. "You _are_ going to share with your favorite brother, aren't you, Seth?"

"Only if you'll actually eat them when I give them to you and not try to be a damn ninja and steal them when I'm not around," Seth said, punching the sandy blonde on the shoulder. "You know I hate that shit, Dean."

"There's no need to be so damn selfish though, baby bro," Dean said. "Besides, don't you know that sharing is caring?"

"Yeah, _sharing _is caring_,_ Dean. Not Let's-see-how-much-of-Seth's-food-I-can-steal-when-he's-not-around is caring," Seth said.

"Enough!" the usually stoic older Samoan said, stopping Dean and Seth's arguing. "The sun's setting. We have to go on night watch soon."

"Remind me how it is that we got saddled with night watch," Dean groaned. "Seems to me like we got a raw fucking deal when shifts were handed out."

"It's because you three work best at night," Alex explained. "After all, you three are the most synchronized among you guys, so having a tight unit on night watch only makes sense."

"Well, shucks, Alex," Dean said, jokingly to the younger brunette. "Way to make me feel like a superhero."

"That's because you _are_ a superhero, Dean," Alex said, smiling at the three men in front of her. "All of you guys are. After all, you guys are what stands between us and the beasts. The way I see things, New Orleans and the world will forever be indebted to you all and others like you guys."

Hearing Alex say this, Seth swallowed back a lump in his throat and said "Anything to protect the ones we care about."

Instead of showing how he felt, the Samoan headed out the front doors and said "Let's go, guys. We've got a long night ahead of us."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Coming, Roman," Dean said, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets and following the Samoan.

"See you tomorrow, Alex," Seth said, before turning on his heel and following his brothers.

Calling after the three men as they headed for the woods surrounding their house, Alex headed out on the porch and said "Be careful, you guys! Be safe!" before turning around and going back inside.

Hearing Alex shouting after them, Roman, silently laughing and shaking his head, said "It's people like Alex that really let us know we're doing the right thing."

"Hey, if no one protects Alex, the others back home, and other humans, then we may as well just lay on our backs, and let the demons win," Dean said. His normally blue irises glowing yellow at the thought of the creatures they fought every night, Dean then growled "And I'll be damned if I let that happen."

"That goes for all of us," Roman said. "It'll be a cold day in hell before we let demons hurt the ones we care about."

Hearing all of the sentimental talk between Dean and Roman, Seth had gotten a bit choked up until he heard a rustling in the trees near them. His head turning in the direction of the noise, Seth said "Guys, we're going to have to cut the Dr. Phil talks short. First kill of the night's less than a few feet away."

Hearing what it was that Seth had heard, Dean donned a predatory smile and said "Aw, yeah! Time to kill!"

Wasting no time with announcing his presence, Roman shifted from his normal human form into a large wolf with black fur and glowing yellow eyes. Taking off in the direction of the noise, Roman left his brothers behind.

"No fair, Rome! Save some for me and Seth!" Dean shouted before shifting from his human form into a large wolf with sandy blonde fur and taking off after Roman.

The last of the three to shift, Seth shifted into a large, somewhat scrawny wolf with brown fur and a patch of it on his face being blonde and took off after his brothers. _'We were gifted like this for a reason. And it's to protect people. To save people. And to kill the demon scourge that dares hurt those that we love and hold dear to us,'_ Seth thought as he ran after his brothers. _'Tonight, we do just that.'_

**Funny thing is that I actually had to make a _hell_ of a lot of changes to this before I felt it was good enough to post. And I feel this is a good first chapter. Intro'ed the characters...partial check, intro'ed their world...partial check, and intro'ed a lot of the main focus...partial check. ^^ *coughs* Anyways, so far looks like we've been introduced to Kaitlyn and what she has to deal with every day (not exactly fun dealing with seeing creatures and stuff no one else can see..and the nightmares, *shudders*, not fun either), but at least she has her work to help distract her some. On the supernatural side, we've been introduced to Seth, Dean, and Roman, three wolf-men who live in a secluded area with others like them. Also, we've been introduced to at least one of the humans that live with them in Alex Hardy, who appears to be a combination little sister to the guys and doctor. And while Seth and Alex were having their talk, we heard mentions of Trish, Matt, and Jeff, who are some of the others that live with them. I'll get to introducing more characters in chapter 2. So until then, R&R to let me know what you guys think of this start. =)  
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	2. Bad Feelings and Chases

**Heads up, my dolls. Stuff gets violent and fighty in this chapter. Enjoy some great fighting action. =)**

"Thanks for coming to Java Jackie's. Come back again tomorrow," Kaitlyn said, smiling as the last of the customers cleared out of the coffee shop. Once those last two had left, Kaitlyn leaned against the countertop as she let the semi-quiet in the shop envelop her. With her work day finally over, Kaitlyn felt that she could finally do something in the way of having peace to herself; even with the chittering of the tinier creatures around her, Kaitlyn decided to take advantage of this quiet in the shop by going around and cleaning off tables.

_'Best part of my day is when there's total quiet,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Some of the chittering getting to her, Kaitlyn waved at the side of her head in a bid to send away some of the fairylike creatures that were around her. _'Well, _almost_ total quiet. I wonder what the deal is. Usually the sprites are never this jittery.' _Doing her best to ignore the chittering, Kaitlyn cleaned off the last of the tables and headed to her boss's office. Opening the door, Kaitlyn said "I'm done for the night, Ms. Jackie. I'm heading out."

Looking up from the forms she was reading over, Jacqueline Moore, or rather Miss Jackie as she was so known as by most of New Orleans, said "OK. Good day today, Kaitlyn. Do you need me to walk with you home? You know the streets get crazy at night."

Waving off the older woman's concern, Kaitlyn said "I'll be fine, Miss Jackie. Besides, my apartment's not that far from here."

"I know. Just, just be careful, Kaitlyn," Miss Jackie said. "I know you do this every night, but please be careful. I'm feeling something weird in the air."

_'You don't know the half of it,'_ Kaitlyn thought while she said "Weirdness in the air. Got it. I'll make sure to call you and let you know that I made it home safe."

"OK," Miss Jackie said, seemingly pleased with this answer. "See you tomorrow."

Saying her goodbye, Kaitlyn grabbed her wallet, phone, and keys from the spot under the main counter where she usually kept them and stepped out the coffee shop into the slightly chilly New Orleans night air. _'Probably should've thought to bring a sweater with me,'_ Kaitlyn thought, rubbing her hands over her arms to try to warm herself up. Feeling a sudden urge to look to her right, Kaitlyn looked and saw the edge of the woods on the outskirts of the city, the very woods that seemed to haunt her nightmares. _'Why does it feel like my dreams about being chased through the woods are all going to come true soon?' _Kaitlyn thought before shaking away her inner paranoia. _'I'm overreacting, that's all. Just making a big deal about my nightmares. I just need to have a night where I can sleep and I don't have that dream. Easier said than done.'_ Turning on her heel, Kaitlyn headed off in the direction of her apartment with the hopes of a peaceful night's sleep on her mind.

...

Taking down what was his third demon that night, Seth sunk his canines into the beast's neck before tearing away a chunk of the creature and sending black blood gushing up into the air. Stepping back, Seth watched as the creature let out a screech before writhing on the forest floor and shriveling until all that remained of the creature was a withered shell and trails of its blood from when Seth bit into its neck.

No sooner had Seth taken that creature down did another beast, just like the one he took down, rear up behind him. Darting forward, the creature growled as it headed for the two-toned wolf only to tackled to the side by Roman. In a blur of talons, claws, and black fur, Roman made seemingly quick work of the creature. Sending a look in Seth's direction that said "Keep your head in the game, Seth!", Roman sped off in the direction of another snarl he heard. Shaking the taste of the beast's blood out of his mouth and from around his muzzle, Seth sped off in the direction of a snarl he had heard, running past Dean who was taking down the legs of a rather large creature that looked something along the lines of a huge centipede before diving in to take a bite out of the beast's neck, sending blood flying everywhere. Continuing on his path, Seth soon came across the source of the snarl. The snarl was coming from a scrawny wolf with brown fur that was doing its best to dig its claws into another one of the centipede-like creatures Dean had taken down. Speeding over to help his fellow wolf, Seth leapt into the air and dived down, trying to sink his claws into what he soon found to be a particularly hard shelled area of the creature's back. Rearing back with a screech coming out of its mouth, the creature shook both wolves off, sending Seth flying and then crashing into one of the nearby trees and the brown furred wolf flying and crashing into another one of the trees. Surveying its damage, the creature let out one last screech before taking off through the trees. Groaning as he shifted back into his human form, Seth looked over at the brown wolf who had since shifted back to his human form.

"Ah, damn it! It got away!" Seth growled, kicking at the tree he had been flung into. Looking over at his fellow wolf-man, Seth snarled out "All right, Rhodes! You have one minute to explain what the hell it is that you're doing out now before I shift and I tear your ass apart!"

Looking over at the older man, Cody Rhodes, rubbing at his chest, said "That thing got away from me when I was leaving my watch. I chased it all the way here and almost had it until you had to come and try to dig into one of its more armored parts."

"You know our rules though. Once your shift is done for the day, that's it! You were supposed to go back to the house with Jey and the others!" Seth practically barked at the younger man.

"Would you rather I have just let the Creeper run away into the city?!" Cody snapped back, his normally blue eyes glowing yellow.

"I'd rather you have followed the rules and went back to the den and leave it to the ones actually _on _watch now!" Seth yelled, his own normally green eyes glowing yellow.

With tension quivering in the air between the two wolf-men, it seemed like time had all but slowed down until Dean and Roman, in their human forms, came speeding into the area to defuse the situation.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa _whoa_ now," Dean said, holding up his hands. "What's the deal with you two? Shouldn't you be saving this fighting for the demons?"

Noticing that there was one wolf-man more than there should've been, Roman asked "Cody. What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be back at the den right now?"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out, Rome," Seth said. "Apparently, Cody couldn't be bothered to let us handle a speeding Creeper when it came our way."

"What Seth is forgetting to mention, Roman, is that if it hadn't been for me chasing after the Creeper, it would've made its way into the city and started harming the humans," Cody said. "I had it in my grip until Seth came along and tried to claw into one of its harder areas. That clawing must've been enough to make it realize that it was close to being killed. Next thing I know, I'm launched a good number of feet through the air and into a tree."

Looking over to the older Samoan, Dean asked "This mean anything to you, Rome?"

"Yes, it does," Roman said, a grim look crossing his face. "Thanks to these two geniuses in front of us, a Creeper demon got away and is probably making its way into New Orleans as we speak."

"Well, if that's the case, then come on," Dean shouted. "Let's go after the son of a bitch and turn it into a mummy!"

"Wait, Dean," Roman said. Casting a look up at the lightening sky, Roman said "We'll have to try to find it later tonight. We should all just go back to the den right now and tell the others what happened."

"Like hell I am!" Seth shouted. "I'm going to finish what I started!"

"Seth, wait," Roman said, a steely tone coloring his voice. "You know our rules. We can't go after a demon when it wanders into human territory. We'd end up causing mass panic if we did."

"Yeah, I know the rule, Rome," Seth said, rolling his eyes. "But you seem to be forgetting that there's a loophole to it."

Thinking over what that possible loophole could be, Dean, his eyes widening, said "Seth, I know what you're thinking. Don't do it."

Reaching into one of the pockets on his cargo pants and pulling out what appeared to be a large pocketknife, Seth said "I have to, Dean. We have to do what we must to protect the pack."

Looking over to his brother, Dean asked "You hearing this guy, Rome? You seriously going to let Seth go into New Orleans just to knife a Creeper?"

"You know how Seth gets when he wants to follow through with something, Dean," Roman said. Looking over to the two-toned man, Roman said "You have twelve hours, Seth. That should be more than enough time for you to find and clean up your mess."

"It won't even take me six hours to finish it up," Seth said, smirking as he shoved his pocketknife back into his pants pocket.

Seeing Seth turning to speed off, Roman said "Wait, Seth. One more thing."

"Make it fast, Rome," Seth said, getting antsy with each passing second.

"Since Cody said it was his kill in the first place, he's going with you," Roman said, casting a look between the two younger men.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Seth growled out.

"No, I'm not," Roman said, that same steely edge coming back into his voice. "Now, I suggest you suck it up and make up with Cody. It's going to take two to clean up this mess."

Wanting to argue more, Seth instead took a deep breath and, after letting it out, said "Fine. Come on, Codes. Let's go make this a fast kill. The humans'll be on the move before we know it."

Wanting to carry out their task at hand as fast as they could, Cody followed after the older two-toned man, leaving Roman and Dean behind.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Dean said "Well, I'm sure the good people of N'awlins'll have a good morning. What with a Creeper loose in the streets and two bickering pups going after it."

Groaning as he ran a hand down his face, Roman said "My grandpa's going to kill me."

Slapping Roman on the shoulder, Dean said "I'm sure Grampa Rikishi won't be too pissed at you for Seth flying off the handle. I think we need to be more worried about the girls when we get home, Trish in particular. You know she gets an itchy hand when it comes to using the whistles."

"I just hope we'll at least have time to explain ourselves before it ends up becoming open season on wolves," Roman said, as he and Dean turned to head back to the den. _'Remember you two. Twelve hours, and no more than that,'_ Roman thought with the hopes that his silent reminder would reach the two younger men.

**As I promised with the first chapter, I intro'ed two new characters in Miss Jackie/Jacqueline Moore, and Cody Rhodes...also, I made mentions to having Rikishi in this. And already, as we've seen with Cody, looks like things got a bit complicated with the wolves while they were hunting in the woods. *sighs* *shakes head* Cody, Cody, Cody. You were supposed to follow one key rule and that was to go back to the den after your watch. But, to give Codes some credit, he was just trying to hunt down a rogue Creeper (not the best name for that particular demon, but I kinda suck at thinking of names like that... ^^, ). *coughs* Anywhos, looks like Roman decided to step in and give a quick solution to Seth and Cody's fight over who was going to kill the Creeper: Send the two pups off together, find it, and kill it. It's gonna be real, y'all. Until Chapter two, don't forget to R&R please. =)**


	3. New Discoveries

With another New Orleans day in full swing, Kaitlyn was finding herself with downtime in between rushes at the coffee shop. Feeling that she could use the time to get a little extra rest in before the afternoon rush piled in, Kaitlyn rested her head in one of her hands as she drifted off to sleep while ignoring the chittering of the sprites. She had just managed to nod off when a loud clattering woke her up. Looking around in alarm, Kaitlyn figured that it was coming from the alley space behind the shop. _'It's too bright out in the day for people to be trying to sneak into a place. Must be a cat or something back there,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Curious about the noise, she slid off of the bar stool she was sitting on and grabbed her phone just in case. Not wanting to go outside empty-handed, Kaitlyn grabbed a nearby broom that she felt could be used to beat away whatever was out there. Being careful not to make too much noise as she approached the shop's back door, Kaitlyn inched closer and closer until she reached the door. Grabbing hold of the doorknob, Kaitlyn slowly pushed the door open before stepping out into the alley. Looking both ways, Kaitlyn heard another round of clattering coming from her left followed by two voices.

_"Damn it! Hold it still, Codes!"_

_ "This isn't as easy as it looks, Seth! It keeps trying to run away!" "OK! Got it! Hurry up and come knife it!"_

Hearing the words 'knife it', Kaitlyn immediately started to feel worried about what was going on. A feeling of fear settling in her stomach, Kaitlyn kept hold of the broom as she ran towards the voices and the sounds of what she was guessing to be a struggle of some sort. Making it to the end of the alley as she ignored the somewhat frantic chittering of the sprites around her, Kaitlyn stopped dead in her tracks and dropped the broom at the sight she was now witnessing: One man was holding what looked like another person while another man pulled out what she soon saw was a pocketknife as the man wielding the knife drove the knife into the chest of the person that was being held, sending black blood gushing all over the man with the knife. Even though Kaitlyn just witnessed what could've very well been a murder, she had a feeling that it wasn't an entirely _normal_ murder that had just happened. The reason why Kaitlyn had this feeling was because before the killing, the person being held was surrounded by what looked like black smoke that had taken on the form of a rather large looking centipede; after the killing, the smoke dissipated and the person-though, who was she kidding, that wasn't a person-shriveled into a shell of its self as a low screech escaped its mouth. Backing away as quietly as she could, Kaitlyn tried to walk away from the two men without being seen. This had almost worked until Kaitlyn walked backward and fell over a trash can.

"Shit!" Kaitlyn hissed out in slight pain as she rubbed her back.

The commotion from Kaitlyn's fall was enough to draw the attention of the two men at the other end of the alley, and before the two-toned woman knew it, she was being lifted off the ground by her arm and shoved against alley wall.

"Who are you?!" the man that had his grip on Kaitlyn's arm asked. "What are you doing here?!"

Turning away from the face of the man that was holding her arm, Kaitlyn shakily said "Please don't hurt me. I-I promise I won't say anything about what I saw. If you let me go, I can go back to the place I work and get you some money if you'd take that for my silence."

"Wait a minute. You saw what we did?" asked the other man, a nervous tone to his voice.

"Uh, y-yeah," Kaitlyn said, trying to keep a clamp down on her rising panic.

"You did?" asked the man that was still holding Kaitlyn's arm as he loosened his grip.

"Yeah. Why? Was I not supposed to see that?" Kaitlyn asked. Wanting to take a better look at the two men, Kaitlyn turned her head slightly and, upon seeing the two men, felt her breath get taken away. One of the men, who was dressed in a grey shirt, dark blue jeans, and black boots, had short brown hair and blue eyes that seemed to sparkle as he looked at her. The other man, the one that was holding Kaitlyn's arm, had mostly long brown hair with a single patch of it dyed blonde and was dressed in a black muscle shirt, black cargo pants, and black boots.

"It's just, we're not used to people seeing when we have to handle things," said the man with the short hair.

"Now, Cody, no need to sound so believing of this chick," said the two-toned man. Looking Kaitlyn in the eye, the two-toned man asked "Tell us, girlie. What exactly was it that you saw back there?"

Trying not to get completely lost in the green eyes that stared back into her own hazel eyes, Kaitlyn finally said "I-I saw you and your friend holding someone. Then I saw you stab the person with a pocketknife and what looked like black blood pouring out of the person. And, I think I might've been seeing things, but I think I saw what looked like smoke around the person that looked like a giant centipede."

Nothing happened between the three people aside from the brown haired man's eyes getting larger and the two-toned man releasing his grip on Kaitlyn as he backed away.

"Oh shit!" the two-toned man said, pacing around in front of Kaitlyn. "This was supposed to be a simple job and here we are getting found by some random chick! Fuck!"

Afraid to move because of the man's apparent freakout, Kaitlyn swallowed and, waving around herself to try to bat away the sprites, said "Look, I won't say anything. I-I'm supposed to be working now anyways."

Taking note of Kaitlyn's nervous way of talking, the brown haired man stepped over to the two-toned man and said "Seth, I think she's telling the truth. She's freaked out enough as it is. Plus, take a better look at her" as he pointed at Kaitlyn.

Stopping his bout of angry pacing, the two-toned man took a better look at Kaitlyn as he saw what his friend was talking about. Taking a step towards the two-toned woman, the man asked "How long have you been having to deal with the Chitters?"

"Uh, for most of my life," Kaitlyn said. "Wait a minute. You can see these things too?"

"Um, yeah. As crazy as it may seem, both me and my friend here can see them," the two-toned man said.

"I thought I was the only one," Kaitlyn said, a bit breathlessly. Feeling curious to know more, Kaitlyn asked "What are you guys' names anyway?"

"Well, I'm Seth," said the two-toned man. Pointing behind him, Seth said "And that's Cody back there."

"Seth," Cody said, stepping forward a bit nervously. "We're supposed to be headed back to the den."

"So soon?" Seth asked. "And after I just went through the trouble of introducing ourselves to, um, what's your name?"

"Kaitlyn," Kaitlyn said, feeling a bit frantic at the idea of two kindred spirits leaving so soon. "Wait. Are you two seriously going to leave so soon?"

"We kinda have to because we have to head back to our house," Seth said. "Why? I'm sure you can think of a better way to spend your day than spending it with two random dudes you just met."

"It's just, I've never met other people that can see the stuff I can see," Kaitlyn said, a bit dejectedly. "I've been dealing with this damn second sight for most of my life with no one to really talk to. Now that I finally meet two guys that can actually see these things, it's only for a short while."

Hearing Kaitlyn say this, Seth said "I honestly wish we could stick around, but it's a matter of real importance that we head back to our house. I'm sorry, Kaitlyn."

"Seetthhh," Cody said, slight nervous whining in his voice.

Turning to see Cody on walking away, Seth sighed and said "See you around, Kaitlyn. Maybe. And, heads-up warning. Don't irritate the Chitters. They're really helpful little things that can alert you to trouble."

Looking around her to see the Chitters slowing their usual nervous flitting around, Kaitlyn asked "How do you know so much about these things?"

Chuckling, Seth said "Believe me, sweetheart. I know more about this stuff than you would want to know about" before he took off after his younger friend.

Watching the retreating forms of Seth and Cody, Kaitlyn walked forward to pick up the broom and make her way back to the coffee shop as she looked around at the sprites, or Chitters as Seth had called them. "So, you guys are supposed to helpful and can let me know when trouble's coming?" Kaitlyn asked, which earned numerous chirps from the tiny creatures. "I'll take those as yeses." As she made her way back through the coffee shop's back door and put the broom back, Kaitlyn walked back to the storefront as she went about throwing herself back into her work all while her meeting with Seth and Cody replayed through her head. In between seeing Seth and Cody kill whatever that thing was, the two men interrogating her, and finding out that they have a second sight just like her, Kaitlyn couldn't seem to get Seth and Cody off her mind; Seth in particular. There was something about the two-toned man that had piqued Kaitlyn's curiosity, but she just couldn't seem to place her finger on what that something was. _'I felt a bit of the same vibes I got from Seth coming from Cody too, but it seemed like those weird vibes were really rolling off of Seth,'_ Kaitlyn thought as she moved around, filling orders at her usual speedy pace. _'There's something more to those two. I just don't know what it is.'_

...

"Aah! Shit! Trish! Stop!" Seth yelled out, as he and Cody were both holding their heads in pain.

When Seth and Cody finally made it back to the den, they were greeted with the sight of a very pissed off Trish Stratus. As soon as the two pups came in the house, Seth immediately tried to start explaining to the older blonde where they had been and why it had taken so long for them to get back only to get cut off when Trish started blowing on a dog whistle. The older blonde had been at it for the better part of the past five minutes and, after seeing that she had done enough to the two pups, decided to stop.

"Consider that a punishment for breaking rules and not reporting in when you should've," Trish said, putting the whistle in one of her jeans pockets and crossing her arms over her chest.

"We're sorry, Trish. But Roman was the one that gave us the order to go into the city to find and kill the Creeper that got away," Cody said, rubbing his ears. "If anything, you should've been using that damn thing on him."

"Oh, don't you worry, Coddles. I already dealt with him and Dean when they came back without Seth," Trish said. "Jey and the others in your watch group got dealt with too for not stopping you."

Massaging his ears, Seth finally asked "This may sound like a weird question to ask, but is Gramps Rikishi here?"

"Last I saw of him, he was having a talk with Jimmy about something," Trish said, scratching her head trying to remember where she last saw the man in question. "Why?"

"Me and Codes need to talk with him about our Creeper kill," Seth said. "I'd say more, but I don't really feel like saying too much just yet."

"Oh," Trish said, nodding her head in understanding that this was a bit of a private matter. "Try looking in the library. He might be in there."

"Library. Got it," Seth said. Turning to Cody, Seth said "Come on, Codes. You've got just as much of a story to relay as I do."

"OK," Cody said, as he followed Seth down the main hallway and to the den house's library.

Ever since the first men in this particular wolf pack had been in New Orleans, they had decided to move into one of the long abandoned plantation houses after cleaning the place up. The house was large enough to accomodate the wolf men, their own separate families, and, in the case of some of the men, their significant others. One of the house's rooms that seemed to see just about as much use as the living room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, and infirmaries was the house library, complete with shelves fully stocked with a wide variety of books.

Looking into the library, Seth and Cody then stepped in as they looked around, hoping to find the man they were looking for. "Rikishi? Gramps, you in here?" Seth asked.

"Over here," called a voice from one of the back areas of the library.

Following the voice, Seth and Cody soon found the man they were looking for. Putting away a stack of books on a shelf that mostly held different history books was Rikishi Uso, a heavyset Samoan man with dyed blonde hair who was wearing a red shirt, black track pants, and a pair of open toed sandals. Putting away the last of the books, Rikishi turned to the two younger men and said "Seth, Cody. What can I do for you two today?"

With neither man knowing how to say what they wanted to tell Rikishi, Seth sighed and finally said "Gramps, me and Codes had a bit of trouble with a Creeper kill we had to take care of."

"So I could hear from Trish yelling at you two and the dog whistle," Rikishi said, rubbing his ear. "I swear even though my senses aren't all that strong anymore, that whistle _still_ bugs me. What kind of trouble did you both have?"

"We _may have _gotten seen by a human when we were killing the Creeper," Cody said. Seeing the look of slight anger flash across the older man's face, Cody said "Now, Rikishi, before you try to claw me and Seth's eyes out of our heads, there was something about the human that saw us."

Taking note of the somewhat nervous tone of Cody's voice, Rikishi asked "What do you mean there was something about the human that saw you two?"

"Well, she was surrounded by Chitters that she could actually see, for one thing," Seth said. "And, the weirdest thing is that she said she saw the smoke form of the Creeper around its human form."

"She did?" Rikishi surprisedly asked, which both Seth and Cody responded to with nods. "That's quite the interesting discovery to make."

"What should we do about the girl that saw us?" Seth asked. "Do you want us to go back and wipe her memories?"

"No. I wouldn't recommend doing that, Seth," Rikishi said, trying to think of how to handle the situation. An idea hitting him, Rikishi said "After Matt and the others in his watch group come back later, we're having a house meeting."

**Uh-ohs. Looks like Kaitlyn saw something that she wasn't supposed to see. Funny how she was expecting just a stray cat or someone trying to sneak into the shop and the next thing she sees is two guys killing a third person (?). After getting the chance to introduce herself to Seth and Cody (our favorite demon killing pups), Kaitlyn's surprised to find out that they have a second sight like she does...too bad she was sadfacing that they had to leave her. Poor Seth and Cody (and a good number of the other wolves). Trish got whistle-happy and punished the rule breakers by using a dog whistle on them (someone's got to keep the troublemakers in line). After torture by dog whistle, Seth decides to go off in search of Rikishi to let him know about what happened with him and Cody while they were in the city. And after hearing the two pups out, looks like Rikishi (who's a wolf-man himself) decided to call a house meeting. Sounds important. Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out what's going to go down. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)**


	4. Hello, New Orleans

Later that afternoon after the group that had afternoon watch had come in, all of the wolves, as well as Alex, Trish, and the other humans that lived in the house, had all met up in what was once a ballroom as Rikishi had called their meeting to order once he filled everyone else in on what happened when Seth and Cody went into the city to carry out their Creeper kill.

"If it was a human that could see what the Creeper really was and she can see the Chitters, doesn't that mean that she could be like Alex, Trish, and the other girls?" Dean asked from where he was stretched out on one of the couches in the room.

"That's what I've been thinking since Seth and Cody told me earlier," Rikishi said. "The only thing is that I have no idea why this lone girl's in the city by herself."

"Maybe she has her reasons for why she's living alone," said one of the brunette wolves. "Maybe she doesn't want to deal with all of the craziness that comes with having a second sight."

"That could be, Matt. But, the weird thing about it is that it seemed like the girl didn't know anything about Chitters. It seemed like more than anything, she just saw them as pests," Cody said from his seat beside Alex. "Almost like she didn't know what to do about them."

"That's why I told Kaitlyn the stuff about the Chitters being helpful when it comes to sensing trouble," Seth said, from where he was sitting. "Just sucks we had to leave her behind."

While Dean and some of the other wolves shared smirks over what Seth said, Rikishi talked with the other older wolves in the room about what to do about Kaitlyn. And while the older wolves were having their talk, Alex sat with the other girls as she thought about what they were gathered to talk about.

Looking over and seeing the look on Alex's face, Trish asked "You're worried about this Kaitlyn girl, aren't you, Alex?"

Looking over to meet Trish's gaze, Alex said "I just don't think it's a good idea to leave her be, knowing that she's got a second sight. What if something happens to her?"

"That's why Matt and the others do their best to keep us and New Orleans protected from the demons," Trish said. "They'll do whatever they have to to keep demons from hurting anyone."

"Trish is right, Alex," said a blonde with pink and black streaks in her hair. "Just leave it all up to the guys. They'll keep the girl safe."

After giving the side conversations in the room a chance to die down, Rikishi said "OK, everyone. We've reached a decision about what to do."

"We're all ears," Dean said, earning a few laughs from some of the others around him.

"To make sure nothing happens to this Kaitlyn girl, we're going to send a small group into New Orleans to keep watch on her. If she really is gifted with a second sight, then those in that group will report back to us what it is that you find out about her," Rikishi said.

"Sounds a bit space invadery, don't you think?" Dean asked.

"As 'space invadery' as it sounds, it's what we feel would best help out," said the other blonde haired man that was sitting at the front of the room. "By keeping an eye on her, we can keep her protected."

"So, how long is this group going to be undercover playing special ops?" Seth asked, curiousity apparent in his voice.

"We haven't decided yet," Rikishi said. "We feel that for now two weeks would be a good length of time, if not a bit long."

"And who gets the pleasure of being a part of this group?" asked one of the wolves who noticeably had purple and blue streaks dyed into his blonde hair.

"We've decided to let Seth, Cody, and Alex go into the city as part of this group," Rikishi said. "Since the girl has already had the chance to get to meet Seth and Cody, it'd be best if the ones watching over her are people she's already gotten comfortable with."

"Seth and Cody, I understand. But, why did you choose me to go?" Alex asked a bit nervously.

"Alex, we chose you because we feel that this will be good for you. You need to have more exposure to things outside of the den and get the chance to meet more people. And, as versed as you are in the history of wolf-men and our world, if you _can _talk with the girl about what she sees, you'll be able to explain it to her in a way that no one else could," said an older brunette man who wore a pair of glasses.

"What if I can't?" Alex asked, hanging her head at the thought of having to communicate with someone outside of the pack. "What if she won't have anything to do to with me?"

"Alex, you shouldn't doubt yourself so much," Cody said, taking one of Alex's hands in his. "You'll be just fine with us. Don't worry."

"Codes is right," Seth said. "At any rate, the way Kaitlyn was throwing off vibes, I could tell she wanted to know more about the Chitters and stuff. You'll do fine if you get the chance to talk with Kaitlyn. I'm sure of it."

Hearing these reassurance talks, Alex said "I guess you both are right. When are we going to leave?"

"We feel it'll be best if you three take off tomorrow morning once Seth comes back in from his night watch," Rikishi said. "Until then, you can spend the rest of the day however you like."

"OK. I guess I'd better go pack some stuff," Alex said, rising from her seat and leaving the room with Cody following her out. Once Alex left, the others in the room took this as a sign that the house meeting was over and left the room, leaving behind Rikishi and the older wolves.

"Are you sure it's a good idea sending Alex along with Seth and Cody?" asked the other blonde wolf.

"Dusty, I've never been more sure of anything before. I've got a feeling that going into the city will be good for Alex," Rikishi said. "She needs the chance to live a normal life, even if it is for two weeks."

"Dusty, I think Rikishi's right," said the wolf wearing glasses. "Alex is my daughter and I'll admit that she isn't as social as the others are. This trip could be just what she needs to get used to life outside of the pack. Besides, she'll be with Seth and Cody. She's in good hands. Just like this Kaitlyn girl will be."

...

The next morning, Kaitlyn woke up from what she could actually say was one of the few peaceful sleeps she had gotten in a long time. Her usual nightmare about being chased through the forest didn't seem to come to her last night; instead, she found herself having the strangest dreams about Seth. _'Seth with yellow eyes, fangs, and claws. That's it. I need to stop watching Teen Wolf before I go to bed,' _Kaitlyn thought, shaking away the images from her dream and rolling out of bed for the morning. Walking into her apartment's kitchen, Kaitlyn opened one of the cabinets and grabbed the box of Pop Tarts, pulling one out and putting the box back in the cabinet. Opening the package and putting the Pop Tarts in the toaster, Kaitlyn poured herself a glass of milk while her quick breakfast was warming up. As the time ran down in the toaster, Kaitlyn found herself thinking back to her dreams about Seth. There was just something about what she had dreamed that stayed stuck in her thoughts; she just wasn't sure whether it was Seth getting a Teen Wolf makeover or the fact that she saw him fighting more creatures like the one she had seen him and Cody kill yesterday. Just as the Pop Tarts shot up out of the toaster, Kaitlyn heard talking out in the hallway.

_"You're in luck. This room is just big enough to for you and your friends to stay in."_

_ "That's good. We've been moving all over the city and it seems like we can't put down roots anywhere."_

_ "Well, I can assure you that you've made the right choice in staying in Mystic Heights. Here's the key for the room. You can get extras made and make sure not to destroy the place, all right?"_

_ "Like we could. We have a lady staying with us, after all."_

_ "Right, right. Well, now that we've taken care of this, enjoy your stay and don't hesitate to come see your trusty landlord if you need help with anything."_

_ "We'll be sure to keep that in mind."_

Hearing that the conversation outside had stopped, Kaitlyn heard what sounded like one of the apartment doors open and then close a few minutes later. Standing in her kitchen, Kaitlyn tried to cycle through the conversation she had just heard because, unless she was going crazy, she could've sworn that the person out in the hall was Seth. _'Couldn't be. I'm probably just imagining things. I mean, just because I had dreams about him last night doesn't mean that I just heard him out in the hallway talking to Mr. Foley. I'm losing it. Really, I am,'_ Kaitlyn thought, shaking her head as she went about eating her Pop Tarts and drinking her milk and then getting ready for another work day. _'Oh well. At least I get to go have some fun at work for a good few hours,' _Kaitlyn thought. _'Guess I'll get to figure out the mystery of who my new neighbors are later.'_

...

Finding a place in New Orleans to stay proved to be easier than Seth, Cody, and Alex would've thought. They had made their way into the city in the early hours of the morning and, after really arriving in the city, found themselves being met with the hustle and bustle that was common for New Orleans.

"Ah. Is there nothing better than the lively crowds of city folk?" Seth asked as he, Alex, and Cody made their way down the sidewalk among the morning crowds.

"Being back at the house," Alex said, a slight scowl on her face. "Being surrounded by all of these people is starting to make my skin crawl."

"Stay calm, Alex," Cody said, keeping his hold on Alex's hand. "Nothing bad is going to happen while we're here."

"Cody's right," Seth said, digging around his pants pocket and pulling out a slip of paper Rikishi gave him. "Besides, I think we're almost to the place Gramps told us about."

"I'm still amazed that there's actually a place in New Orleans that's warded," Alex said. "None of the books on the city that I've read mention this place."

"Which is all the more reason that you need to take more field trips away from the den house," Seth said. "There's so much more to life than reading books and tending to injured wolves."

"So you guys keep telling me. But, if it's alright with you, I'd take my life back at the den over this any day of the week. At least with that life, I don't have to worry about outsiders," Alex said.

"Just give city life a try," Seth said, encouragingly. "You just might end up liking it more than you think."

"We'll see, I guess," Alex said, not believing Seth's words.

The trio kept walking until they got to the address on the slip of paper Seth kept looking at. Looking up at the building, Seth said "Well, this is the place. Nice and warded Mystic Heights."

"And just think, this is going to be our home away from home for two weeks," Cody said. Looking down to Alex, Cody asked "You ready to do this?"

"Sure, I guess," Alex said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "Time to blend in with the normies."

"That's the spirit," Seth said, smiling at Alex's efforts. Heading up to the front door of the apartment complex, Seth walked inside first with Alex and Cody following behind him. Once the three got inside the building they decided to look around the main floor. Nothing of real notice seemed to jump out at the three aside from a hall of rooms that stretched a little ways out in front of them that ended at a door that led to what they were guessing was a back way out of the building.

"Seems pretty deserted, if you ask me," Alex said. "Don't apartment complexes usually have some kind of life flowing through them?"

"It's because a good number of the tennants here are barely waking up for the day," said a voice coming from one of the side rooms the trio saw. "A few of the other tenants here are more nocturnal than most."

Turning to find out who the voice belonged to, the trio soon found themselves face to face with an older man with long, curly dark brown hair that had a few noticeable grays who was dressed in a pair of black pants, white tennis shoes, and two shirts, one that was a black shirt with a rather beat-up looking smiley face as the design and a black and red flannel shirt over it.

Walking over to the older man, Seth said "You must be the man Rikishi told us about. Mick Foley, right?"

"You'd be right in saying that," Mick said, flashing a smile at Seth as he took and shook the two-toned wolf's hand. "Mick Foley, at your service."

"Nice to meet you, Mick," Seth said, returning Mick's handshake. "My name's Seth Rollins. The other two with me are Cody Rhodes and Alex Hardy."

"Actually, my name's Alexis, but I prefer it if people call me Alex," Alex piped up.

"Pleasure to meet the three of you," Mick said. "Rikishi sounded pretty urgent when he called me last night. Care to fill me in?"

"I guess you could say that me and Cody _may have_ screwed up a demon kill when we were in the woods and had to come into the city to finish the job," Seth said, as he was joined by Cody and Alex. "After killing it, we didn't know that we were spotted by a human until I heard her cussing after taking what sounded like a rough fall. So, after finding the girl and talking with her, me and Cody find out that she's got a second sight and, one house meeting later, the two of us and Alex get chosen to come into the city and keep an eye on the girl."

"This girl must be pretty special if Rikishi felt the need to send a security detail to keep her safe," Mick said.

"You could say that," Seth said, suddenly finding himself thinking of Kaitlyn.

"Let me go get a room key for you guys. Luckily for you three, I just so happen to have vacancy on the second floor," Mick said, shuffling off to his office and coming back minutes later with a key.

Taking note of the way Mick was walking, Alex asked "One of your legs is hurt, isn't it?"

"Very observant, Ms. Hardy," Mick said. Reaching down and pulling up his right pants leg to reveal a prosthetic from the knee down, Mick let his pants leg go and said "Lost that when I got mauled by a Rabid one night. Had it not been for Rikishi and the other wolves in his pack saving me, I probably wouldn't be here right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Alex said, shuddering as what she knew about Rabids came into her mind. Rabids were wolves just like Seth, Cody, and the others; only these were wolves that got just as much pleasure out of hunting and killing humans as they did demons.

"It's no big deal. The way I see things, I'm grateful to be alive. I owe my life to Rikishi and the wolves that saved my life," Mick said. "But, enough trips down memory lane. Let me show you three to your room."

Following Mick up the stairs as he gave them the usual landlord talk, the trio looked around, not really noticing anything out of the ordinary in the complex. It wasn't until they got to the second floor that Mick stopped in front of what was going to be their room in the apartment for their two week stay.

"And, make sure not to destroy the place, all right?" Mick asked, casting warning looks at Seth and Cody.

"Like we could. We _do _have a lady staying with us, after all," Seth said, gesturing to Alex.

"Right, right. Now that we've gotten the formalities out of the way, enjoy your stay and don't hesitate to come see your trusty landlord if you need help with anything," Mick said, smiling at the trio.

"We'll be sure to keep that in mind," Seth said, returning Mick's smile.

"Now it's back to my office for me," Mick said, shuffling off. "Have a nice day, you three."

Once Mick was gone, Seth used the key Mick gave him to open the door and, after letting Cody and Alex go in first, went in. Looking around what the three were going to call their home for the next two weeks, Seth saw that it'd be big enough for them to have space to really live there. There was a kitchen space with a refrigerator, cabinets, a stove, sink, and dishwasher, a living room area, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms.

"This oughta do for our new digs for these next two weeks," Seth said, setting his bags down in the living room area.

"You think we ought to put in the effort to get some furniture?" Alex asked, setting down her bags and walking into the kitchen as she looked around and tested the sink and stove.

"We probably should," Cody said, setting his bags down. "That way, if our watch goes on longer than two weeks, we won't go crazy from boredom and we'll be comfortable."

"We can handle that later," Seth said. Hearing his stomach growl, Seth said "Right now, I think we should focus on getting food for ourselves and to put in this apartment. You up for going on your first ever trip to a grocery store, Alex?"

"I can't get out of this, can I?" Alex asked, which Seth responded to by shaking his head. Sighing, Alex said "Fine. But, I don't want you guys leaving me while we're out, OK?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Cody said, as Alex walked over and joined him and Seth in the living room.

"Codes is right, Alex," Seth said. "Besides, I don't think I could take getting drilled by your brothers, Trish, and your dad when we get back."

"Good point," Alex said, laughing a little. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Alex smiled a small smile and said "Let's go do some grocery shopping then, guys."

...

It had completely surprised Kaitlyn that she had the day off. Usually, Miss Jackie would call or text her ahead of time and let her know when she didn't have to come in; so, naturally, Kaitlyn was surprised when she went in and was told by one of her co-workers that she had the day off. Wanting to argue to try to get one of the shifts for that day, Kaitlyn instead decided to spend the day taking care of errands. The first thing on her list was to go to the grocery store and stock up her cabinets. Making her way to one of the local grocery stores, Kaitlyn went inside and, grabbing a cart, went about going through the store and getting she wanted to fill her cabinets and fridge with. She had just made her way to the cereal aisle while going over her mental shopping list when she had accidentally crashed her cart into one of the shelves, causing a few boxes to fall off the shelves. _'I should probably clean this mess up,'_ Kaitlyn thought, walking around her cart as she picked up some of the boxes. She had just walked around to pick up three more when a familiar voice caught her off-guard. Looking up, Kaitlyn felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat.

"Need some help there?" asked a grinning Seth.

**Just a few more hours until new TWD! Gahh, I can't stand the wait much longer...season 5's gonna be so awesome! *coughs* Anyways, looks like the house meeting with the wolves and the humans that live with them resulted in Seth, Cody, and Alex being chosen to go into the city to keep watch over Kaitlyn and keep her safe. I almost didn't use Mick Foley as the landlord in this fic, but after writing him in, I feel I made a good choice...after all, who doesn't love Mick Foley? One talk with Mick later, and the trio have a room in Mystic Heights. Their first priority: Fill the cabinets and fridge with food. Moving on to Kaitlyn, she's been having some strange, non-forest dreams...a fighting, wolfy Seth being the main focus of them. And, after getting a day off of work, decides to go grocery shopping. After making a mess of some cereal boxes, Kaitlyn finds herself face to face with Seth while trying to clean up her mess. Color that situation awkward. Stay tuned for chapter 5 to see how Seth and Kaitlyn's chat in the grocery store goes. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)**

**Two rules that are being intro'ed in this chapter: 1) The humans that live with the pack are female. 2) Places that are warded offer a measure of protection for the people that live in them. More rules to be intro'ed and explained in later chapters...I'll also touch more on Rabids in later chapters. ^w^  
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	5. Two-Toned Bonding

_ She had just walked around to pick up three more when a familiar voice caught her off-guard. Looking up, Kaitlyn felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat._

_ "Need some help there?" asked a grinning Seth._

**And now, for more fun at the grocery store. Enjoy. =) **

At first, Kaitlyn couldn't say anything. She was still trying to process the fact that Seth was standing in front of her while she was trying to clean up the cereal box spill she had caused.

Not getting a response from Kaitlyn, Seth bent down and, picking up two of the last boxes that fell, said "I'm amazed. I never thought one person could eat so much cereal."

"I-I wasn't focused on where I was walking and I accidentally ran my cart into the shelf," Kaitlyn said, trying to explain herself and the mess she made.

"You should probably stay more focused on where you walk. You'll cause less damage that way," Seth said as he and Kaitlyn got up the last of the cereal boxes. Looking down into Kaitlyn's cart, Seth snickered and said "I think you forgot a couple."

Looking down into her cart, Kaitlyn blushed, quickly got three of the boxes out and left two in her cart, and put them back on the shelf. "Thanks," Kaitlyn said.

"No problem," Seth said. "Anything to help a lady in need out."

"It's not like I needed the help. I'm used to cleaning up messes like that by myself," Kaitlyn said, going back to push her cart down the aisle and picking up another box of Pop Tarts.

"With no help?" Seth asked, which Kaitlyn responded to with a nod. "Damn. That's pretty cool."

"Thanks again, I guess," Kaitlyn said, laughing a bit at what Seth said. After finally taking another look at Seth, Kaitlyn noticed that the two-toned man didn't have either a basket or a cart. "Uh, Seth. Aren't you forgetting something? Last I checked, you need a cart or a basket when you're grocery shopping," Kaitlyn said.

"My cart's around here somewhere," Seth said. "I think it got held up at the candy aisle."

Confused at what Seth said, Kaitlyn almost opened her mouth to ask what it was that Seth meant when she caught sight of what she was guessing Seth meant. Coming towards the two-toned pair was a cart filled with a good amount of groceries and five jumbo bags of Skittles of assorted flavors precariously perched on top that was being pushed by Cody. What kept Kaitlyn's eyes held on the coming brunette wasn't just the cart, but also the fact that there was someone with Cody. Taking a look at the girl that was walking with and talking to Cody, Kaitlyn noticed that the girl was wearing a black t-shirt with a picture of a group of zombies on it as the design, a pair of dark blue cut-off jean cargo shorts, and a pair of high-top Converses that looked covered in paint splatters. But as Kaitlyn found her eyes working her way back up the girl, Kaitlyn couldn't help but stop and stare at the girl's face; going across the younger girl's face was what looked like a long since healed scar that went from one of her cheeks over the bridge of her nose to her other cheek. _'Oh my goodness. I wonder what happened to her,'_ Kaitlyn thought as Cody and the girl with him stopped in front of her and Seth.

"There you are, Seth," said the younger girl. "Me and Cody thought we lost you after you ditched us back where the bread and other baked stuff was."

"Sorry about that, Alex," Seth said. "I got sidetracked talking to my new friend Kaitlyn here."

Hearing her name mentioned, Kaitlyn took her eyes off of Alex's scar and, trying to get her thoughts back in order, held her hand out and said "Kaitlyn Bonin. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," the younger girl said, smiling a small smile up to the taller woman as she took and shook Kaitlyn's hand. "My name's Alex Hardy. Well, actually, my first name's Alexis, but I like it when people call me Alex."

"Then, Alex I shall call you," Kaitlyn said, returning Alex's smile. "If you don't mind me asking, how is it that you know Seth and Cody?"

"Oh. Well, uh, Cody's actually my, uh, boyfriend. And, Seth lives with us back where we stay," Alex said, trying to keep her calm through her conversation. The younger of the two women might not have been showing it on the outside, but on the inside, she was a huge ball of nerves over talking to Kaitlyn; especially, since this was marking the first ever real conversation she had with someone outside of the pack.

"That's nice of you two to let Seth crash with you guys," Kaitlyn said. "I take it he's a good friend of you both."

"Yeah. He really is," Alex said. "Almost like another big brother that I didn't really ask for, but got anyway."

"Um, ow. Standing right here," Seth said, feigning hurt at Alex's comment about him. "Way to make me feel unwanted."

"Would unwanted people get double chocolate cookies?" Alex asked, sending a teasing smirk in Seth's direction.

"You get the stuff to make them with?" Seth asked, surprised. Seeing Alex's nod, Seth said "Looks like my night just got better."

Laughing at Seth and Alex's exchange, Kaitlyn asked "I take it you like cookies, Seth?"

"Just the ones that Alex bakes," Seth said, jabbing a thumb at Alex. "Kid's a real whiz in the kitchen."

"I'm not all that great, Seth," Alex said, blushing as she looked down at her shoes.

Taking note of the shift in Alex's behavior, Kaitlyn said "Well, maybe when she bakes some, you could bring some to me, Seth."

"I'd love to do that," Seth said, smiling at the way Alex's head perked up.

"Awesome," Kaitlyn said. Hearing the Chitters starting to get a bit restless with their chirping, Kaitlyn sighed and said "Well, I suppose I should finish my shopping and head back to my apartment."

"You don't have to be in too big of a rush to leave," Alex piped up. "The Chitters are only getting antsy like that because they probably see all of the sweets you have in your cart."

Surprised to hear this, Kaitlyn asked "Wait. You can see them too, Alex?"

"Huh?" Alex asked, seeing the surprised look on Kaitlyn's face. "Oh, yeah. I can."

"So, you're like Seth and Cody?" Kaitlyn asked. "You can see these things?"

"Yeah. As weird as it all is," Alex said, nervously rubbing the back of her head. "I also know a good bit about them too."

"You do?" Kaitlyn asked, her surprise growing. A pleading tone creeping into her voice, Kaitlyn said "You have to tell me about them."

"Uh, sure. I'd love to some time," Alex said, caught a bit off-guard by Kaitlyn's sudden want to know about the Chitters.

"Really? Thanks, Alex," Kaitlyn said, relief flooding through her as she felt like she was getting closer to finding out about what the Chitters really were and why it seemed like they were always around her.

"You're very much welcome," Alex said, smiling as a pinkish blush started to color her cheeks.

Seeing the exchange go on between the girls, Seth and Cody shared smiles over the fact that not only was Kaitlyn willing and open to learning about the Chitters from Alex, but also that Alex had succeeded in having her first ever real conversation with someone outside of the pack. Hating to break up the moment that was happening, Seth said "Alex. I think we should be headed back now. Don't want to be out too long before it gets too late. Besides, Cody's got to take off for work now."

Confused at what Seth said, Cody then got the hint that he had to head out for his watch soon. "Yeah. Besides, I think we should be heading to check out soon. I think we have enough for the three of us anyways," Cody said, looking in the cart.

Taking a look for himself, Seth said "Huh. I guess you're right. Alright then, kids. Let's check out."

"I suppose I should be following along with you guys," Kaitlyn said. "If I stay in here any longer, I'm going to end up draining my bank account to buy tubs of ice cream."

"That couldn't be a more chick thing to say if it could've been," Seth said, laughing as he and Kaitlyn followed Alex and Cody to the checkout lanes.

"Coming from the guy that not too long ago spazzed out over cookies," Kaitlyn said, grinning a lop-sided grin at Seth.

"Point taken," Seth said, looking away as a slight blush started to color his cheeks.

Laughing, Kaitlyn shook her head as she put what she was going to buy on the belt in the line she and Seth went down. While the cashier rang her groceries up, Kaitlyn continued to talk with the two-toned man even after she put her bagged groceries in her cart, paid for what she bought, and wheeled the cart out of the store. The two-toned pair had just walked out of the grocery store when they caught sight of Alex and Cody wrapped up in a tight embrace with their bags of groceries around their feet.

"Is that always a thing between those two?" Kaitlyn asked, wondering what the deal with Alex and Cody's hug.

"Just when Cody heads to work," Seth said, skirting explaining to Kaitlyn what the hug really meant. "It's just their way of saying 'Love you lots' without really saying it to each other."

"That's pretty cute of them to do," Kaitlyn said, a slight knot of jealousy starting to form in her. Relationships were always tricky stuff for the two-toned woman because she'd always be faced with the guy she was dating having a not so pleasant reaction to learning about what she saw if he ever found out; this always caused Kaitlyn to end any relationships she had in fear of being faced with rejection herself.

"Yeah. Young love really is an adorable thing," Seth said, a slight sadness rolling through at the sight before him and Kaitlyn.

Hearing the slight somber tone to Seth's voice and looking over to see the slight sadness on Seth's face, Kaitlyn asked "Seth? You OK?"

Snapping out of memories he wanted to keep buried, Seth said "Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about some stuff. No need to worry."

"Oh, OK," Kaitlyn said, wondering why it seemed like Seth got upset about something. Shaking it off, Kaitlyn said "Well, I guess I'd better be headed back to my place now before I end up with cartons of soup."

"Sounds like a good idea. I'd better get Alex so that we can head back home now too," Seth said. Calling over to Alex, Seth said "Alex. Time to let Cody go to work so that we can head back to the Heights."

Hearing the nickname of the apartment building that she stayed in, Kaitlyn asked "Wait. You guys stay at Mystic Heights, too?"

"Yep. We haven't been staying there long, so we're still trying to get used to the whole 'obey the landlord' deal," Seth said as he and Kaitlyn were joined by Alex, who was carrying the six bags of groceries she and Cody had paid for.

"Mr. Foley's pretty chill. As long as you get your rent paid on time, he's one of the grooviest guys you could ever hope to meet," Kaitlyn said, watching as Seth took three of the bags from Alex. Wanting to do the neighborly thing, Kaitlyn asked "Hey. Um, since you both have a lot of bags, how about I give you two a ride back to the Heights?"

"You sure it's a good idea to let two strangers ride in your car with you?" Seth asked, a teasing smirk on his face. "For all you know, we could be a couple of crazy axe murderers."

"I'm pretty sure axe murderers wouldn't fanboy over the idea of getting homemade cookies baked," Kaitlyn said, a smirk of her own in place as Alex snickered at what she said.

"Again. Point taken," Seth said.

Seth and Alex then followed Kaitlyn to where she had parked her car, which was a blue Volkswagen Beetle.

"A Beetle? Your car of choice is a Beetle?" Seth asked, quirking an eyebrow at the car.

"Yeah. I've always thought they were cute. So when I saved up enough money, I bought one," Kaitlyn said, opening the trunk and putting her groceries in there. Closing the trunk back down, Kaitlyn said "You two can put your stuff in the back seat."

Opening the passenger's side door after Kaitlyn unlocked the doors, Seth let the seat up to let Alex climb in the back. Once Alex was in the seat behind him, Seth handed the younger brunette the three bags he had and pushed the seat back as he climbed in and closed the car door, only to find that he had to huddle his legs a bit close to him.

"This thing's like a clown car," Seth said as Kaitlyn got in and, after buckling her seat belt, put her keys in the ignition and started the car.

"Well, Beetles weren't exactly made for giants," Kaitlyn said, giggling at how Seth was sitting.

"I think this is part of the reason why I prefer to walk places most of the time," Seth said. "Riding in cars can be a real pain in the neck."

"I get what you mean," Kaitlyn said, pulling out of the grocery store parking lot as she headed back to Mystic Heights. "I only really drive my Bug when I need to go grocery shopping. Anything else, I can pretty much walk and do."

"Understandable," Seth said, nodding his head in understanding.

The rest of the car ride back to Mystic Heights was filled with Kaitlyn and Seth talking and sharing stories from their pasts with Alex adding something to the conversation whenever she saw fit to. Before anyone in the car knew it, Kaitlyn was pulling into the parking lot next to Mystic Heights.

"Man. Who knew time could fly by so fast when you're riding around in a car?" Seth asked.

"I'm guessing maybe time flew by so fast because we had so much to talk about," Kaitlyn said. "This was definitely one of the more fun car rides I've ever been in."

"I'll say it was," Seth said. "Same goes for me. Usually when I _do_ get stuck riding in cars, I'm surrounded by either gossiping chicks or aggressive guys."

"Glad to know where I stand, Seth," Alex said, playfully swatting Seth on the shoulder.

"Not you, Alex," Seth said. "I mostly meant Trish and Ashley. Besides, you're too nice to ever badmouth anyone."

"Thanks," Alex said, a slight blush climbing up her face.

Noticing the way Seth and Alex really communicated with each other, Kaitlyn couldn't help the smile that started to cross her face. _'They must be really close if Seth knows what to say to Alex. I wonder if he knows how Alex got the scar on her face,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Not wanting to press the two to find out, Kaitlyn said "I'm going to go on and get my stuff out of the trunk. You two can just get your stuff out of the backseat."

"OK," Seth said. Unbuckling his seat belt, Seth got out of the car once Kaitlyn was out and let the seat up to let Alex out. Once Alex was out, the two went about getting their bags out of the backseat and, after pushing the seat back, made their way to the front entrance only to look back and notice that Kaitlyn was staring down at the five bags of groceries she had, biting her lip in what appeared to be deep focus.

Looking down at Alex, Seth said "You know. It'd be really ungentlemanly if I just let Kaitlyn try to deal with five bags by herself."

Laughing softly, Alex said "Go on and help her, Seth. Just give me the key to our room. I'll take the bags I got up and you can help Kaitlyn with her stuff."

Handing Alex their room key, Seth watched as Alex headed inside Mystic Heights before turning his attention to the two-toned woman still at her car. Walking over, Seth asked "Need some help, Kaitlyn?"

"Huh?" Kaitlyn asked, getting snapped out of her thought train by Seth approaching her. "Uh. I think I have everything handled here. Besides, I wouldn't want you to carry more than you can handle."

"No need to worry about me," Seth said, effortlessly picking up three of Kaitlyn's bags in his left hand while still keeping his grip on the three bags he already had in his right hand. Showing how easily he could lift all of the bags he had, Seth said "See? No problems here."

"Whoa. Thanks, Seth," Kaitlyn said, locking her car doors and then reaching down to pick up her last two bags.

"It's no big deal," Seth said. "I wasn't just going to let you deal with trying to bring in five bags by yourself. That wouldn't have been very nice of me."

"Either way, thanks," Kaitlyn said. "My second day running into you and already you're helping me with my groceries."

"You make it sound like that's some kind of record for you," Seth said, quirking an eyebrow at Kaitlyn.

"Well, not a record, _per sé,_" Kaitlyn said. "I'm just not used to having so much help from not so total strangers."

"It's all about being polite," Seth said, smiling over at Kaitlyn.

"i'll make sure to keep that in mind," Kaitlyn said, a pinkish blush spreading across her cheeks as she and Seth headed inside Mystic Heights. The two-toned pair continued their talk as they headed upstairs and to the second floor with Kaitlyn showing Seth to her room, which was a few doors down from where the room Seth, Alex, and Cody were sharing was. "And, here's my room," Kaitlyn said, finding her room key on her key ring and, after unlocking the door, opened the door. "Thanks for helping me with my bags, Seth. I can take it from here."

"OK," Seth said, setting Kaitlyn's bags on the floor in front of her. Not wanting to leave just yet, Seth tried to come up with something else to talk about. Coming up with nothing, Seth said "See you around then."

"OK," Kaitlyn said, grabbing her last three bags. "See you later, Seth," Kaitlyn said, closing her door.

...

Turning on his heel, Seth headed for the end of the hall, knocked on the door to his room, and, after being let in by Alex, walked into the kitchen area and set the bags he had on the counter areas. Once he set the bags down, Seth let out a deep breath as he rested his hands on the countertop.

Looking up from where she was sitting, Alex stood and walked over to Seth. Resting a hand on the older man's shoulder, Alex asked "She reminds you of Leva, doesn't she?"

"So much so, that it's scary," Seth said, fighting back the rush of emotions he felt as memories he had been trying so hard to keep buried started to go through his head. Turning to look down at Alex, Seth said "Alexis. I want you to promise me something."

"Sure, Seth. What is it?" Alex asked, noticing the way Seth used her full name.

"Promise me that when I'm not here, you'll do your best to keep Kaitlyn safe and protected," Seth said.

"Yeah, Seth. I promise," Alex said. Taking note of the silent determination in Seth's eyes, Alex said "Seth. You have nothing to worry about. Don't forget that Cody'll be here to keep Kaitlyn protected while you're away."

"Good," Seth said, relief washing through him as he found himself get wrapped up in a hug from Alex. Returning the younger brunette's hug, Seth thought _'Kaitlyn Bonin. What are you doing to me?'_

**IDK why it was that I decided to let Kaitlyn's car be a Beetle. Maybe it's because so many people in the area I stay in drive them (next to trucks, it seems like lots of folks in NC loves Beetles...)... *coughs* Anyways, looks like Kaitlyn's little run-in with Seth at the grocery store didn't turn out as awkwardly as she was thinking it would...in fact, it seems like she even enjoyed her second time meeting Seth. Kaitlyn seemed a bit surprised to meet Alex, although that could be due in part to when Kaitlyn first caught a glimpse of Alex's scar. After talking with the younger brunette, Kaitlyn was surprised to find out that Alex has a second sight just like Seth and Cody do...with the promise of learning more about the Chitters and the other things she sees, Kaitlyn comes out of her grocery run feeling hopeful for the first time in a while. One car ride back to Mystic Heights and carrying groceries in later, Seth and Kaitlyn part ways. Turning focus on Seth, seems like our favorite two-toned wolf may be catching a feeling or two for Kaitlyn...evidenced in Alex putting it together that Kaitlyn reminds Seth of someone from his past. With the promises of Kaitlyn being protected, Seth then finds himself letting his possible feelings for Kaitlyn settle in. Question time! How did Alex get the scar on her face? Who exactly is Leva? And why does she seem like such an important part of Seth's past? These questions (and possibly more) to be answered in the coming chapters. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)  
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	6. A Supernatural Lesson

**Happy Halloween, guys and ghouls! Hope you guys are all enjoying it doing whatever you do this wonderfully spooky time of year. My treat to you all...an update. Enjoy. =)**

The next day, Kaitlyn found herself waking up from what she could only say was a rather dreamless sleep. Climbing out of bed, Kaitlyn stretched her arms and legs out as she decided that it'd be best if she go on and get a start on her day. While she didn't have to be to work until later that day, Kaitlyn decided to see if she could get any information from Alex, Seth, or Cody about the Chitters; the only thing was that she had no idea which room the three stayed in. _'Maybe I could go ask Mr. Foley. I'm sure he won't mind telling me,'_ Kaitlyn thought, slipping on a pair of sandals. Grabbing her room key and phone and leaving out of her room, Kaitlyn headed down to the first floor and to Mick's office in the hopes of finding her landlord. Standing outside of Mick's office, Kaitlyn raised her hand and knocked on the door.

Opening the door, Mick asked "Kaitlyn, good morning. What brings you to my office at this time of day?"

"Hey Mr. Foley," Kaitlyn began, only to get cut off by Mick laughing.

Coming down from his laugh, Mick said "Kaitlyn, I've told you too many times before. It's OK if you just call me Mick."

"I know. I just feel like I should call Mr. Foley out of respect," Kaitlyn said, scratching the back of her neck. "But, that's not why I'm down here this morning."

"What is it then? Is the water still working right in your apartment?" Mick asked.

"Oh yeah. Everything's working just fine," Kaitlyn said, waving off the older man's concern. "I was just wondering if you could answer a question for me."

"Sure. Go for it," Mick said, giving Kaitlyn the floor to ask any questions she needed to ask.

"Um, I was wondering if you knew which room three of the Heights's newest tennants were staying in," Kaitlyn said. "I was a bit curious because I was supposed to be meeting up with one of them to talk about something."

"If you give me names, I could probably tell you," Mick said.

"Their names are Seth, Cody, and Alex," Kaitlyn said in the hopes that Mick knew who she was talking about.

Hearing the names of the trio, Mick said "It's just your luck, Kaitlyn. I gave them the room at the end of the floor you stay on. Although, if you're looking for Seth or Cody, I don't think they're in yet."

"What about Alex? Do you know if she's here?" Kaitlyn asked, a bit bummed to hear that the guys might not be in.

"She actually took a step outside not too long ago. If you take a step outside, you can probably still see Alex out there," Mick said, pointing towards the door.

"OK. Thanks, Mick," Kaitlyn said. Heading to the front door, Kaitlyn took a step outside only to find herself swarmed, as usual, by the Chitters. Looking around at the tiny sprites, Kaitlyn giggled and said "You guys must really love me if you insist on doing this every time I step outside." Looking around past the few Chitters that were flying around her, Kaitlyn finally found Alex standing and doing something over by what looked like a mailbox of some sort. Walking over, Kaitlyn found herself growing more and more curious about what the younger girl was doing. Once she was about less than a foot behind Alex, Kaitlyn saw that Alex was unwrapping something and placing it in the mailbox-like structure. While watching Alex do this, Kaitlyn heard the younger girl saying something as well.

"I hope my offering of these cookies will help please all of you Chitters. I've read that Chitters like sweets, so I decided to share some that I baked," Alex said, deciding to place one cookie inside to see if the Chitters would eat it. Steppng back from the structure, Alex watched as a few Chitters flew in, took pieces of the cookie, and ate them. Hearing what she knew were chirps of approval, Alex smiled and said "I'm glad you all like them. I made more if you all want another one."

Amazed at what she saw, Kaitlyn inadvertently blurted "Whoa! That's amazing."

Jumping slightly, Alex turned and, seeing Kaitlyn watching with amazement clear on her face, blushed and said "I-I told you they like sweets. So, I figured after I got done baking, I'd bring a couple of the extras I had out here as a bit of a thank-you."

"Well, I can tell that they really appreciate what you baked," Kaitlyn said, smiling at Alex.

"Yeah, I guess they do," Alex said, looking back at the Chitters still eating the cookie she left them. Turning back to Kaitlyn, Alex asked "So, what brings you outside at this time of day?"

"I was actually looking for you," Kaitlyn said.

"Me? What for?" Alex asked, a slight nervous fear starting to creep over her.

"I was wondering if maybe I could get that lesson about what the Chitters are," Kaitlyn said. "I have to be to work later today, but I've got time enough to get some schooling on them."

"Oh. Um, OK," Alex said, her nervous fear slowly fading away. "Let's head back up to my room. It's better if we can have privacy while I tell you."

"OK," Kaitlyn said, as she followed Alex back inside the Heights.

Once the two were inside, Alex said "Wait here for a minute. I just want to drop a bag of my cookies off to Mick first."

"Take your time," Kaitlyn said, as she watched Alex head over to Mick's office. While Alex was gone, Kaitlyn couldn't help but feel relieved and overjoyed all at once. She was finally going to get answers about why it was that the Chitters always seemed to follow her; while she was at it, Kaitlyn also felt that maybe she could ask Alex if she possibly knew why it was that she could see the other things she could see. _'Alex seems knowledgable enough about things like this. Maybe she'll be able to tell about more than just the Chitters. Maybe I could even get some more info about what it was that I saw that day I first met Seth and Cody,'_ Kaitlyn thought.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Alex said, as she made her back to where Kaitlyn was standing. "I got caught up in a bit of a talk with Mick."

"It was probably just his way of telling you to be safe. Mr. Foley's like that with me too. I think it's because he wants to make sure everyone that stays under his roof is safe," Kaitlyn said, thinking about how helpful Mick had been to her since she first moved to New Orleans and into Mystic Heights.

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind," Alex said, filing that information away. "So, shall we go back to my room now?"

"Oh yeah. Sure. Lead the way," Kaitlyn said. Falling into step with Alex, the two girls made their way up to the second floor and to the end of the hall, stopping in front of the door to the room that Alex, Seth, and Cody were sharing.

Reaching into her shorts pocket and pulling out her room key, Alex said "You'll have to be a bit quiet. I think Cody's still sleeping. At least, he was when I left out earlier."

Nodding her head, Kaitlyn stood aside as Alex unlocked and opened the door to her room. Following Alex inside, Kaitlyn looked around the room while Alex quietly closed the door back. From what Kaitlyn could see, the three didn't really have much in the way of furniture there with them, aside from what looked like a very large air mattress that was covered in blankets and currently occupied by a still sleeping Cody in the middle of the floor of the living room area. A book on one of the countertops catching her eye, Kaitlyn picked up the book and, turning back to Alex, asked, in a low voice, "This yours, Alex?"

Turning to see what Kaitlyn was asking about, Alex saw that it was her copy of Scott Pilgrim volume four. Nodding her head, Alex, making sure to keep her voice low, said "Yeah. I have the other three volumes before that one with me in my bag. I figured that until we could do something about getting furniture in here, a TV included, I could spend my time reading something interesting."

A soft laugh escaping her, Kaitlyn said "You won't be disappointed with this series. So much greatness. I have the other volumes of this if you'd like to borrow them."

"Really? That'd be great. Thanks, Kaitlyn," Alex said, smiling a small smile.

"It's no big deal," Kaitlyn said, a smile of her own in place. Not forgetting what she had come up there for, Kaitlyn began "Um. This might be a bad time to ask this, but-" only to be cut off by Alex.

"You're ready to learn more about the Chitters, aren't you?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. I am," Kaitlyn said, surprised that Alex knew what she was going to ask. "How'd you know that's what I was going to ask you?"

Laughing a bit, Alex said "It's written all over your face. Take a seat over there by the wall and I'll be over there in a bit."

"OK," Kaitlyn said, walking over and taking a seat by the wall that had a pile of blankets in front of it. Kaitlyn had only been sitting and waiting for what had been close to ten minutes when Alex made her way over to where the two-toned woman was sitting, two cups of milk with a plate of cookies balanced on top of one of the cups in hand. After taking the plate from Alex, Kaitlyn sat it on the floor as Alex sat down and placed a cup in front of her.

Taking one of the cookies from the plate, Alex asked "OK. So, what's on your mind? What exactly is it that you'd like to know?"

"Well, for starters, I'd like to know what the Chitters are exactly," Kaitlyn said. "All I've ever really been able to guess about them is that they're like sprites."

"You'd be right in guessing that," Alex said. "The Chitters are, in essence, sprites. They're not really harmful. They just have a bit of a tendency to swarm people; some more than others."

"So, they just fly around, swarming around any person they see fit?" Kaitlyn asked. Seeing Alex nodding her head, Kaitlyn thought back to all of the times she had seen Chitters fluttering around those around her. The strange thing about that is that the people never even seemed to notice them. "But, why is it that me, you, Seth, and Cody can see them? Why is it that we can see them and seemingly no one else can?" Kaitlyn asked, the questions tumbling out of her.

Trying to think about how to phrase her answer as she took a couple of bites of her cookie and chased those bites down with a drink of milk, Alex then said "There are people in the world that have a, uh, second sight, if you will. People that have this sight can see things like the Chitters."

Wanting to ask about what she saw the day she saw Seth and Cody kill whatever that _thing_ was, Kaitlyn instead asked "Why is it that the Chitters even fly around people anyways? If they don't hurt us, then why do they even flutter around us?"

"They usually flutter around people when, when bad stuff is looming for them," Alex said, the end of her sentence coming out a bit nervously.

"Bad stuff? Like what?" Kaitlyn asked, a slight feeling of dread starting to creep over her.

"It could be anything from minor stuff like getting a cold to, more major stuff," Alex said, again saying the end of her sentence a bit nervously.

Having a good idea what Alex meant by 'major stuff', Kaitlyn nodded and said "So, the Chitters just mean to warn you about stuff."

"That is correct," Alex said, nodding her head. Seeing the way Kaitlyn was biting her lip, Alex said "It's nothing to be all that worried about. When they flutter around you, that's when they're not harmful. But, when they start to chirp a bit frantically, that's when they're trying to tell you something bad's coming."

_'That would explain why they were so frantic when I saw Seth and Cody kill that thing and when Seth and Cody were questioning me. They were just trying to warn me,'_ Kaitlyn thought, the pieces to the Chitter puzzle falling into place. "I never would've guessed that you knew so much about the Chitters. Thanks for that, Alex," Kaitlyn said, grateful appreciation clear in her voice.

"It's no big deal. I know my fair share of stuff about the Chitters and other stuff. So, any time you want or need to know about something else, you know where to find me," Alex said, sending a reassuring smile in Kaitlyn's direction as she grabbed another cookie.

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind," Kaitlyn said, deciding to take a cookie for herself. "I'm feeling so relieved right now, you have no idea."

"It's never good to have to deal with stuff that you don't understand," Alex said. "Plus, it's always a help when you can find people that go through the same stuff you find yourself dealing with."

"I can't thank you enough right now," Kaitlyn said. "Is there anything I can do to pay you for this?"

"You don't have to do anything like that. Just the fact that I was able to help you get a better understanding of the Chitters is enough for me," Alex said.

Feeling relief mixed with joy, Kaitlyn decided to take a bite of the cookie that she had been holding. She wasn't sure if it was because she had skipped breakfast, but, after eating that first cookie, Kaitlyn found herself going back for two more. In between her bites, Kaitlyn said "These are great! Did you make these, Alex?"

Nodding her head as she laughed, Alex said "I had been promising Seth I'd bake him some cookies, so I decided I'd bake them while he's at work. I gave some to Mick too earlier before we came up; the way he ate one of them, he made it look like he's never had a cookie before in his life."

"I'll bet I know why he probably reacted that way. These are _so_ good," Kaitlyn said, finishing one of the cookies she had and chasing it down with a drink of milk.

"If you want some, feel free to take some with you," Alex said, standing and, grabbing her cup, walking into the kitchen.

Nodding her head, Kaitlyn bit into her second cookie as she let everything she had learned sink in. She had just reached for another cookie when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling out her phone, Kaitlyn saw that she had just gotten a text from one of her friends asking where she was. Sending her friend a text back saying that she was in another friend's room and that she'd be back to her room shortly, Kaitlyn stood up and, grabbing the almost empty plate and the cup she had, headed into the kitchen as she drank the rest of her milk. Once she was at the counter where Alex was standing, Kaitlyn placed the dirty dishes on the countertop and said "Thanks for the snack, Alex. It was really good."

"Your welcome. I hope you enjoy these extras," Alex said, handing Kaitlyn the bag she had filled with cookies.

"I will. You can believe that," Kaitlyn said, shoving her phone back in her pocket. After getting the bag, Kaitlyn said "I should probably be leaving now. I just got a text from one of my friends that they're outside of my room, so I should probably go let them in."

"Oh, OK," Alex said, feeling a bit dejected. "Enjoy the rest of your day, then. I'll see you around."

"OK," Kaitlyn said, as she and Alex walked to the door. Once Alex unlocked and opened the door, Kaitlyn turned to the younger girl and said "And, thanks again. For everything today."

"It's no big deal," Alex said, waving off Kaitlyn's thanks. "Just wanted to help."

"Still, thanks," Kaitlyn said. Before stepping out into the hall, Kaitlyn gave Alex a quick hug and, after pulling away, headed out into the hall, leaving behind a surprised Alex.

Heading to her room, Kaitlyn saw two of her friends sitting outside of her room, one with a bored, almost sleepy look on her face. Shaking her head as she got closer, Kaitlyn said "Oh come on now. I wasn't gone _that_ long, AJ."

The short Latina looked up and said "It felt like you were gone forever. I got bored waiting out here with no one to talk to but Layla."

"Ow. I'm sitting right here, AJ," the other brunette woman, Layla, said. "Besides, we've only been here for maybe a good few minutes. Not nearly enough time for you to get bored."

Wanting to move on past their little argument, Kaitlyn asked "Is there any particular reason you two came over today?"

"We just wanted to come hang out before we all had to head in to work today," AJ said, as she and Layla stood from the ground. "Also, Layla had another one of her freaky vision type things about you."

"Say what you want about them, AJ, but when I have a vision, it's never wrong," Layla said. It was a bit of common knowledge among Kaitlyn, AJ, and their group of friends that Layla had something in the way of a special gift of having visions about things that would happen to them in the future; the only thing with Layla's visions is that they weren't concrete, so it was always a bit of a waiting game to see if what Layla saw in her vision would come true.

"Please tell me you saw me winning the lottery or something, Lay," Kaitlyn said, as she unlocked her apartment room door and walked inside with AJ and Layla following behind her.

"No, although that would be nice," Layla said, as she and AJ took seats on one of the couches in Kaitlyn's living room while Kaitlyn locked the door. "It was something a bit, iffy."

"Iffy how?" Kaitlyn asked with AJ listening on in obvious curiosity.

"I can't exactly remember all of it," Layla said, trying to remember what she had seen in regards to her two-toned friend. "All I can really remember is seeing you in the woods running from something."

"Do you remember what it was?" Kaitlyn asked. While the others in their group didn't place as much belief in Layla's visions, Kaitlyn tended to believe a bit more strongly than the others; some time ago, Kaitlyn felt that this came from a strange supernatural connection she felt to the brunette Brit.

Shaking her head, Layla said "Sorry, love. I can't. But, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Maybe I'm just misinterpreting what I saw."

"Lay's right, Kait," AJ said, trying to bring some positivity back into the room. "I don't think you should worry too much about what she said she saw. Besides, all that worry'll just make you paranoid."

"I guess you're right, AJ," Kaitlyn said, pasting a somewhat convincing smile on her face. But, while AJ and Layla carried on a conversation between the two of them that Kaitlyn chimed in on every so often-something about AJ having a bit of a fangirl crush on the tattooed drummer in a rock band called Fozzy-Kaitlyn couldn't help but let Layla's vision of her stab at her mind. _'Well, this is a perfect way to go into work today. Just when I finally get information about the Chitters, Layla comes and lays something morbid like _this _on me. It's nothing. It's gotta be,'_ Kaitlyn thought, trying to do her best to not let what Layla saw preoccupy her thoughts but failing in the end. _'The woods. Whatever Layla said she saw happens to me in the woods. Just like in all of those crazy nightmares I've been dealing with. I think I know what I have to do.'_

**I obeyed the Loser's Guide for Celebrating Halloween this year. Horror movies, scary stories, spooky cartoons, spooky musics, candy, and showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show...a Halloween well spent in my book. ^^ Anywhos, onto the recap. Kaitlyn finally got some of the info about the Chitters that she had been looking for...she also found herself developing quite the craving for Alex's cookies (my muses all seem to have some crazy addiction to cookies...my little group of cookie monsters). Alex herself had quite the morning giving cookies to not just Kaitlyn, but also to Chitters that are outside of the Heights and Mick...she also said she'd be willing to answer any more questions Kaitlyn had. Swinging over to Kaitlyn's friends, AJ and Layla seem nice so far. Layla appears to have a second sight of her own where she has visions of the future, a second sight that her friends know about (The reason why Layla told her friends is that she's comfortable enough with her sight...other reasons to be revealed later in the story.). Layla's vision about Kaitlyn doesn't sound good...neither does Kaitlyn's way of doing something about it. What does Kaitlyn plan to do about Layla's vision? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)  
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**(I know there are going to be questions about why Kaitlyn keeps her sight a secret from her friends...so to field some of those questions right now, Kaitlyn still doesn't know all that much about what exactly it is she sees and she fears that if she were to let those close to her know, they'd either abandon her or get hurt somehow.)**


	7. Hidden Worries & Conquering Fears

**A heads up, my dolls. Things get intense and fighty close to the end of the chapter. Enjoy. =)**

Closing the door after Kaitlyn left, Alex blinked around her shock of Kaitlyn hugging her; sure she had gotten her fair share of hugs from her brothers, her dad, and many of the other members of the pack, but her first time getting a hug from someone outside of her usual circle was definitely something that she wasn't expecting. _'It felt, nice. She must've been really grateful for me telling her that stuff about the Chitters. I just wonder where this puts me in her eyes,'_ Alex thought. She had just turned to head to the kitchen sink when Cody sitting up and staring at her caught her offguard. Jumping and then trying to get the shock out of her system, Alex asked "How long exactly have you been awake?"

"Partly when you first started baking. Then again, when you brought Kaitlyn back here," Cody said, as Alex took a seat on the air mattress beside him. "I've just been lying here, listening in on what's been going on this morning."

"Oh yeah. Wolf hearing. I was making sure to not to be so loud. But I'm guessing even when I tried to be quiet, I still woke you," Alex said. "I'm sorry, babe."

"It's no problem. Besides, I found it really interesting hearing you give Kaitlyn her lesson on the Chitters. Sounded to me like she was really thankful for the info you gave her," Cody said, smiling over at his girlfriend.

Blushing a bit, Alex said "It was no big deal. I just wanted to do my part of our mission while we're here."

"Well, I think I speak for Kaitlyn when I say that you did very well," Cody said, throwing an arm around Alex's shoulders. "It must've been hard for you to have a talk with a non-pack member for as long as you two were talking."

"It was. But, it felt like it got easier the longer we were together," Alex said, leaning into Cody. In a softer tone of voice, Alex said "She didn't even stare at my scar that much today" as she ran the tips of her fingers over the scar that ran across her face.

Hearing Alex talk about her scar, Cody said "I'm sure when she saw it first yesterday she was just a bit surprised by it. She's probably trying to get used to it."

"I know. I just have a feeling that this scar might end up being more trouble than its worth the longer we're here," Alex said, thinking back to when she got the scar as slight shudders started to go through her.

Remembering the day in question, Cody pulled Alex closer to himself as he laid back down on the air mattress, pulling Alex down with him. Holding Alex in his arms, Cody rubbed his girlfriend's back as the two laid in that embrace while Cody said "It'll be OK, Alexis. It'll be OK." And in a softer voice, Cody added "I'm sorry. I really am" as a stray tear rolled down his face.

...

Standing at the edge of the woods after her shift ended and she had said bye to AJ and Layla, Kaitlyn shook her head as she tried to get her bravery levels up. Like when she was back at the Heights with AJ and Layla earlier in the day, Kaitlyn let what Layla saw in her vision dominate most of her thoughts through most of her shift. When she had close to a few minutes left of her shift, Kaitlyn felt that what Layla's vision was telling her was that she had to go into the woods. So, after thinking everything through, Kaitlyn decided that she would do just that, which led to her now standing at the edge of the woods. _'I'm insane. I've got to be to even consider doing this,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Everything in Kaitlyn kept yelling at her to just turn and head back home; even the Chitters fluttering around her had begun to chirp frantically as she got closer to the woods. Sighing as she looked around at the Chitters, Kaitlyn said "I know this is a bad idea, guys. But, I _have_ to do this. Besides, I feel like this is the only way I can do something about the nightmares I keep having." Taking a deep breath and then letting it out, Kaitlyn squared her shoulders as she took her first steps into the woods.

Leaving the comfort and lights of the city behind her, Kaitlyn soon found herself surrounded with what felt like an almost deafening silence, aside from the frantic chirping of the Chitters. Looking at the landscape around her, Kaitlyn felt what felt like mild relief. _'I don't get what the hell I was so scared of. It's really, peaceful in here. Doesn't seem like the kind of place that'd be in someone's nightmares from Hell,'_ Kaitlyn thought as she ventured further into the woods, the frantic chirping of the Chitters going seemingly unheard. Stopping beside one of the trees, Kaitlyn decided to take a look at the woodland area around her. Something that she seemed to notice about some of the trees was that bark on some of them seemed to be ripped away in areas; others seemed to have large gashes in the bark. Taking a closer look at the gashes, Kaitlyn felt an uncomfortable chill settle over her as she saw that the gashes were claw marks. _'Oh, god. What the hell's been happening out here? A lot of these trees look like they've been almost demolished by some animal. OK. This was a bad idea,'_ Kaitlyn thought, dread closing in over her. _'I'm leaving and I'm leaving _now._' _

Turning on her heel, Kaitlyn walked off only to be stopped in her tracks when she heard twigs snapping and leaves rustling behind her. Trying to shake off the creeping fear, Kaitlyn kept walking through the woods only to feel what felt like warm breath behind her. Shivers running up her spine, and with the Chitters chirping more frantically than they ever had before, Kaitlyn slowly turned around only to find herself face to face with what she could only say was a monster from one of her nightmares: Staring back at the two-toned woman was a large white snakelike monster that had three sets of red eyes, a sharp pair of fangs, a fearsome looking hood, a long and slender body, and a tail that ended with what looked like a stinger. Frozen in fear over what she was staring at, Kaitlyn couldn't seem to find it in her to do anything but slowly back away in the hopes that she could get away from whatever this, this _thing_ was. Her breathing increasing with each step she took, Kaitlyn kept backing away until she felt her back hit one of the trees. The monster, seeing that its prey was cornered, let out a fearsome growl as it darted forward at Kaitlyn. Seeing the creature coming at her, Kaitlyn screamed as she turned and ran from the creature. As she ran, Kaitlyn immediately got hit with two dread realizations: This was the exact same scenario that seemed to plague her nightmares and this reminded her of what Layla said she saw in her vision. Not knowing what else to do, Kaitlyn continued to run, air burning in her lungs, until she tripped on a tree root and found herself flying forward until she landed on the forest floor, feeling one of her knees getting scraped on some of the twigs on the forest floor.

"Ah! Damn it!" Kaitlyn said, clutching at her knee in pain. She tried to get up and continue her run for the edge of the woods when she felt something wrap around her ankle. Looking around her ankle, Kaitlyn saw that the monster had lashed out with its tongue and grabbed her by the ankle and was now pulling her into its gaping jaws. Trying to grab a hold of something on the forest floor, Kaitlyn failed to grab anything sturdy enough as she got pulled in closer and closer. Tears slipping down her cheeks, Kaitlyn thought _'I can't believe this is how it all ends. I finally come into these woods just to get eaten by this, this _thing_. Someone. _Anyone._ Please help.' _As she had gotten pulled in closer to the monster's jaws, Kaitlyn screamed out "HELP!" in the hopes that someone, _anyone_, out in the woods would help her. Just as she had gotten pulled almost into the creature's jaws, vicious snarling growls filled the air, followed by screeching from the monster. Feeling the grip of the monster's tongue on her ankle loosen, Kaitlyn quickly crawled over to the nearest tree she felt she could make it to. Leaning against the tree as she looked at her scraped knee, Kaitlyn looked behind her, only to see something that definitely took her breath away: Three rather large wolves were tearing into the monster, sending streams of blood into the air. In the moonlight that shined down through the trees, Kaitlyn couldn't bring herself to do anything but watch as the wolves clawed at and bit into the monster. This brutal attack had went on for what felt like ages until the monster let out one last hissing growl as it died and shriveled into a husk of its former self.

Kaitlyn shook in place as the reality of what just happened settled in on her. Not only had she almost come close to getting eaten by some hellish beast, but she had also gotten saved from said beast by three wolves that looked threatening enough. Taking a better look at these wolves, Kaitlyn felt her fear levels rising to unimaginable heights due in part to just how large and how vicious these wolves looked: One of the wolves had jet black fur, another wolf had sandy blonde fur, and the third wolf had brown fur. _'These, these wolves just killed that thing. They just killed it like it was nothing,'_ Kaitlyn thought. _'It's just, now that they've killed that thing, what's going to happen to me?'_ Trying not to panic too much, Kaitlyn made the mistake of inching back and accidentally snapping a twig with one of her hands. The sound of the wood snapping was enough to draw the attention of the wolves to her as Kaitlyn soon saw the wolves snap around to look at her, their yellow eyes seeming to glow in the dull moonlight. Swallowing in nervous fear at this, Kaitlyn inched back further until she felt her back hit one of the trees. Shrinking back in fear, Kaitlyn shook as frightened tears rolled down her face. Turning away from the wolves, Kaitlyn said, in a broken voice, "Whatever you're going to do, just, make it fast."

What happened next both startled and surprised the two-toned woman. Instead of being ripped to pieces by the wolves like she had feared, Kaitlyn instead felt a gentle nudging on her shoulder, followed by warm breath that seemed to feel a little good on that area. Turning to look forward, Kaitlyn found herself face to muzzle with the wolf with brown fur. Taking a closer look at the wolf's face, Kaitlyn saw that a patch of the wolf's fur was blonde. Gazing into the wolf's yellow eyes, Kaitlyn felt a strange sense of security and safety; it seemed like she could trust these wolves to keep her safe, the wolf with the blonde in his fur more than the other two. _'They're not going to hurt me. They just want to keep me safe,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Hesitantly, she reached out in a move to stroke the two-toned wolf's fur. Surprisingly enough, the wolf leaned into her touch and, as Kaitlyn started to rub the wolf's head, the wolf seemed to relax under her touch. Taking note of how the wolf seemed to relax, Kaitlyn couldn't help but grin at what was going on. _'He actually seems to _like_ me petting him. He's certainly a friendly wolf,'_ Kaitlyn thought. The more she petted and looked into the two-toned wolf's eyes, the more Kaitlyn felt relaxed around the wolves. Before she knew it, Kaitlyn felt herself getting lightheaded as she leaned back against the tree she was sitting in front of and drifted off to sleep.

...

Watching as Kaitlyn drifted off to sleep, Seth waited until he was certain she was asleep before he shifted back into his human form. Kneeling down on the ground in front of Kaitlyn, Seth looked Kaitlyn over to make sure she hadn't gotten injured too bad by the demon that he, Dean, and Roman had just killed. The only injuries that he seemed to notice were Kaitlyn's scraped right knee and slight bruising around her ankle from where the demon grabbed her with its tongue.

"So, _this_ is the girl that you, Code, and Alex get sent into the city to keep an eye on and protect?" Dean asked, him and Roman now in their human forms. Taking a closer look at Kaitlyn, Dean said "She's pretty hot. For a Chitter magnet, that is."

Hearing the chirping of the sprites, Seth said "They were probably just warning her to leave the woods. What I don't get is why she's even out here anyway."

"It seemed like she was trying to find something before the Serperi got to her," Roman said.

"Find something? What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Can't say for sure, but it seemed like she was walking around, looking for something," Roman said. "Almost as if she was trying to find something out here."

Hearing Roman say this, Seth turned back to look at Kaitlyn. _'Looking for something? What could you have possibly been out here looking for?' _Seth thought.

The sounds of screeching coming from behind the three men, Roman said "It's not safe for her here. Seth, get the girl and take her home."

Doing as Roman said, Seth picked Kaitlyn up bridal style and, watching as Dean and Roman shifted and ran off, took off at a light jog so that he could get out of the forest as quickly as possible all while keeping an eye on his surroundings to avoid any more demon attacks. Reaching the edge of the forest, Seth walked into New Orleans still keeping his grip on Kaitlyn as he was greeted by the dawn of a new day. Making his way down the sidewalk while paying no mind to people that were looking at him strangely-after all, he was quite the sight; it didn't exactly happen every day that the people of New Orleans saw a man, who had blood caked up on his hands and in his hair, carrying a sleeping woman-as he finally reached the Heights.

Making his way to the front door, Seth heard the worried trilling of the Chitters as he got closer to the door. Sensing that they were worried about Kaitlyn, Seth looked at the sprites and said "She's fine, you guys. She just needs sleep and then she'll be OK. I'll even keep an eye on her if that'll make you guys happy." Seeing the Chitters calm down a bit with their trilling, Seth watched as they fluttered over to a mailbox-like structure where they all seemed to flutter around something.

_'Annoying little things. But, I know they mean well,' _Seth thought as he pushed open the door to the Heights. Heading inside, Seth climbed the stairs as he soon reached the second floor. Stopping outside of Kaitlyn's apartment door, Seth found himself with a bit of a problem. _'How the hell am I going to get her inside?'_ Seth thought to himself, still keeping his hold on Kaitlyn. An idea hitting him, Seth carefully felt around in Kaitlyn's front pockets until he pulled out what he knew was her room key. Sliding the key into the lock and turning the key, Seth eased the door open as he carried Kaitlyn into her room. Looking around for somewhere to lay her, Seth decided to lay Kaitlyn on one of the couches in the living room area. Finding a blanket to wrap Kaitlyn up in, Seth made sure that Kaitlyn was comfortable before he left. Taking one last look at the sleeping two-toned woman, Seth couldn't help but push Kaitlyn's hair off her forehead and plant a kiss there before saying "Sleep well, Kaitlyn. See you later." Turning to leave, Seth took the key out of the lock and, after placing it on one of the counters, left Kaitlyn's room, being careful to quietly close the door behind him. Once Seth had left Kaitlyn's room, he walked down the hall to his room as he tried to fight back the raw wave of emotions that raced through him. Leaning against the door to the apartment he was sharing with Alex and Cody, Seth let a few silent tears roll down his face as memories he'd tried so hard to keep buried came rushing at him yet again. _'Just like Leva. Kaitlyn's just like Leva. Which is all the more reason why I want, no, why I _need_ to keep her protected and safe. I don't want to lose Kaitlyn like how I lost her,' _Seth thought to himself. _'I just can't.'_

**I...almost didn't include the little bit at the beginning with Alex and Cody after Kaitlyn had left, but once I had it typed and I read over it, I decided to keep it in. Alex seems to be a bit curious about how she's seen by Kaitlyn now that she's had time to really talk with her, so leave it to Cody to be a good boyfriend and talk with Alex about it (and snuggle on the bed...don't forget that). Looks like Alex and Cody's cuddle time on the mattress proved to be quite the comforting thing after Alex brought up Kaitlyn not noticing her scar much...it also seems to have brought out quite the interesting remarks from Cody (remarks that will make sense later in the fic). Switching over to Kaitlyn, looks like she finally manned (err, ladied) up and went into the woods in spite of the warning chirps from the Chitters. But, as she got further into the woods, turns out there was a reason why the woods haunted her nightmares...her getting caught by a demon (Serperi...much better name than Creeper) proves that. And just when she thought she was done for, her salvation comes in the form of three wolves (Hooray for wolf Shield saving the day!) tearing the Serperi demon to pieces. After getting saved from the demon, Kaitlyn braces for an attack from the wolves only for the two-toned wolf to nudge her and then love her petting him. And as Kaitlyn's petting the two-toned wolf, she soon drifts off to sleep. Switching to Seth (who has shifted back to his human form, along with Dean and Roman), Seth takes a better look at Kaitlyn only to find that she has a few minor injuries. Not liking the fact that there are still more demons out there, Roman orders Seth to take Kaitlyn back to her home, which Seth more than willingly obliges to doing. Taking Kaitlyn back to the Heights and laying her down to rest, Seth leaves but not before he leaves Kaitlyn with a kiss on her forehead. And when he finally makes it to his apartment, Seth gets slammed with memories of Leva and the realization of how much Kaitlyn reminds him of her...which seems to only further strengthen his resolve to keep her safe. Question time! Now that Kaitlyn's seen what's really out in the woods, how will she deal with it all? How will Seth deal with his feelings for Kaitlyn now that it's clear that she reminds him of Leva? And again, who exactly _is_ Leva and why does she matter so much to Seth? These questions and more to be answered in the coming chapters. So, until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)  
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**(What Seth did to Kaitlyn while he was in wolf form and while she was staring into his eyes was a form of hypnosis. Also, new rule time! Rule #3: When the Chitters get frantic, that's a sign that trouble's coming a person's way. Rule #4: The wolves can compel/hypnotize people so long as they can hold a person's gaze. They can do this while either in wolf or human form. More rules to come. =) )**


	8. A Quest for Answers (Part 1)

**Slight fighting and a little angstyness comes in close to the end, but other than that, this chapter has nice and healthy helpings of Sethlyn cuteness. Enjoy, my dolls. =)**

Kaitlyn woke up the next morning, surprised to find herself lying on one of the couches in her living room. The events of last night seemed to mostly be a blur; one thing she _could_ remember was that she actually went into the woods. _'Why does it seem like I can't remember anything after I went into the woods?'_ Kaitlyn thought. _'I finally conquered the nightmares, only to not remember it at all.' _Trying to see if she could remember anything, Kaitlyn moved to stand up and go into the kitchen, only to feel a sharp pain coming from her ankle. Quickly sitting back down and hissing in pain, Kaitlyn looked down at her legs and saw that her right knee scraped and there was a little bruising around her right ankle. Getting confused at how she had gotten hurt, Kaitlyn sat and thought _'What the hell happened to me last night?'_

Trying again to get up, Kaitlyn succeeded and managed to limp her way into the bathroom to grab an bandage and a couple of Band-Aids so that she could do something about her injuries. After she put the Band-Aids on her knee, Kaitlyn went about bandaging her ankle when the look of the bruise made her stop. Taking a closer look at the bruise, Kaitlyn noticed that the bruise looked a bit like a wide spiral stopping halfway up her lower leg. Reaching down to touch the bruise, Kaitlyn pulled her hand back when she felt how her skin felt in the bruised area; where the bruise was, her skin felt a bit rough and cold in some areas. That touch seemed to be enough to bring back a memory from last night. Kaitlyn soon found herself remembering that she had been running through the woods from some kind of giant snakelike creature and had almost gotten eaten by the creature had it not been for something that had saved her; what that something was Kaitlyn couldn't quite remember. _'What the hell happened to me in the woods last night? I go out there just to try conquer my nightmares and I almost get eaten by some, some _thing. _But what was it? I wonder if, I wonder if Seth and the others know anything about it. I could always try to go ask them. I just hope at least one of them is up now,'_ Kaitlyn thought.

After wrapping her ankle in the bandage, standing and limping into her living room, Kaitlyn looked around for her room key only to see it on the kitchen counter. Walking over and picking it up while trying to figure out how it could've gotten on her counter, Kaitlyn shrugged it off as she went to the door and, opening and closing the door behind her, locked the door as she hung a right and walked down to Seth, Cody, and Alex's room. Knocking softly on the door, Kaitlyn waited in spite of the throbbing in her ankle until the door to the apartment swung open and Kaitlyn found herself looking at a shirtless Seth. Her cheeks starting to heat, Kaitlyn said "Whoa."

Chuckling as a smirk crossed his face, Seth leaned on the doorframe and said "Well, good morning to you too, Kaitlyn." Not getting a response from Kaitlyn, Seth asked "Did you need something, Kaitlyn?"

Hearing Seth talking to her, Kaitlyn snapped out of her haze that seemed to be brought on by seeing Seth without a shirt on. Finally having her focus straight, Kaitlyn asked "Morning. Um, do you think I can come in and ask you about something?"

"Sure. We just got done making breakfast, so you can help yourself to some if you'd like," Seth said, stepping aside as he gestured for Kaitlyn to come in.

Feeling a bit nervous to come in, Kaitlyn decided to go in since she was already there to have a talk with the three anyway. Trying not to limp so badly, Kaitlyn walked inside only to be stopped by the sight of a table surrounded by three chairs, two that were occupied by Cody and Alex, near the kitchen area. Pointing at the table, Kaitlyn asked "When'd you guys get this?"

"Got 'em early this morning. I had some time after I got off of work, so I decided to get an affordable enough table and chairs for the three of us. Beats sitting on the floor and the air mattress, that's for sure," Seth said, closing the door. Walking over to the counter, Seth said "You hungry for anything? We have pancakes and bacon if you'd like some."

"Um, maybe later," Kaitlyn said, ignoring the light growling of her stomach as she took the last empty seat at the table. "I was wondering if I could ask you guys about something."

"Sure, Kaitlyn. What is it?" Seth asked, taking a bite out of a strip of bacon.

Swallowing around the nervous lump that seemed to form in her throat as she tried to form the right questions, Kaitlyn finally asked "Do you guys know anything about, other kinds of creatures?"

"If this is more of a lesson about the Chitters, we'd be more than happy to tell you more stuff about them," Seth said.

"No, no. It's not more stuff about the Chitters. I, I want to know about _other_ creatures," Kaitlyn said.

"Other creatures like what exactly?" Seth asked, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Uh, like, giant six-eyed snakes. I'm not sure if I dreamed it last night or what, but I went into the woods and next thing I know, I'm getting attacked by this giant snake," Kaitlyn said. Looking around to see the looks on Seth, Cody, and Alex's faces, Kaitlyn couldn't help but think the trio didn't believe her. Lifting her right leg and propping it up on the table, Kaitlyn unwrapped the bandage around her ankle, revealing her bruise. Pointing at her bruised ankle, Kaitlyn said "If you guys don't believe me, _here's_ proof that I'm not making this up."

Putting the piece of bacon he was chewing down on a plate he had, Seth quickly walked over to Kaitlyn and, taking a better look at the bruise, said "Alex. Do you have any of that ointment you and Trish made with you?"

"Uh, yeah. It's in one of my bags. Let me just go dig it out," Alex said, getting up from her seat and walking over to one of the bags that was up against the kitchen island. After digging around in her bag, Alex pulled out a clear plastic jar filled with what looked like a green gel of some kind. Walking back over to the table, Alex handed the jar to Seth and said "Here. I have a couple of jars just in case" before taking her seat back beside Cody.

Looking at the jar a bit nervously, Kaitlyn asked "What is _that_?"

"It's ointment. It should be just the thing to help you with your bruise," Seth said, unscrewing the jar. Picking up a bit of the ointment, Seth began to rub it on Kaitlyn's bruise while he thought _'Alex really _must've_ been thinking ahead if she thought to bring ointment for Serperi burns.'_ After rubbing one more dab of the ointment in and rewrapping it in the bandage Kaitlyn had on it before, Seth said "That ought to help your bruise some."

Before she could really open her mouth to ask what the ointment was, Kaitlyn let out a breath as she felt a warming sensation in the area of her bruise. Looking up at Seth to see the two-toned man smirking down at her, Kaitlyn said "What _was_ that stuff you just put on my ankle? It's starting to feel warm."

"It's a special kind of ointment Alex made with one of our friends. They used some plants that are supposed to help with bruises like that," Seth said, sending an appreciative smile Alex's way as the youngest blushed and shoved a forkful of pancakes into her mouth.

"Whoa," Kaitlyn said, clearly amazed. Her amazement over Seth knowing what to do about her bruise leaving her, Kaitlyn went back to her original point by asking "What about the snake I told you guys about? Was that actually real or was that something I imagined?"

Sharing a look with Cody, Seth sighed before saying "Well, I guess you wouldn't be wrong in saying that it was real. Even though to most people creatures like that are just the stuff of nightmares, they're very real."

"They, they are?" Kaitlyn nervously asked. Seeing Seth nod his head to confirm this, Kaitlyn slumped back in the chair as she thought _'So, the dreams I've been having, they've all been real. But how can this be? How can my dreams pretty much be future predictions? This is all just starting to turn into one weird mess, even weirder than normal for me.' _Closing her eyes as she tried to fight back the frightened tears that threatened to escape her, Kaitlyn reopened her eyes as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. Looking over, Kaitlyn saw that it was Alex that was giving her a hug. Smiling at the younger woman's concern for her, Kaitlyn returned the hug with one of her own. Pulling away as she saw the look of relief on Alex's face, Kaitlyn said "Thanks for that, Alex. I guess I had gotten more scared by that than I thought I would."

"It'll be okay Kaitlyn. Really, everything's okay. You don't have to worry about the monsters out there getting you," Alex said, trying to reassure the two-toned woman.

"I don't have to worry? _I don't have to worry?!"_ Kaitlyn asked, standing from her seat, surprising Seth and Cody and scaring Alex a little. Looking around at the three, Kaitlyn said "Sorry for my outburst, but, I just can't believe how calm you sound right now, Alex. I mean, in case you didn't catch a word of what me and Seth just said, _there are monsters out there that could kill and eat us all!_ How can you just tell me that I don't have to worry about that stuff?!"

"You just don't! OK?" Alex yelled, surprising Kaitlyn and the two men. Trying to get her composure back under control, Alex looked up at Kaitlyn and said "Trust me. There are, people out there. People that keep New Orleans and the world safe. Safe from the monsters, safe from what could kill us, safe and sound."

Hearing Alex say this, Kaitlyn looked over to Seth and Cody and saw the two men obviously still surprised by Alex's outburst. With what Alex said still fresh in her mind, Kaitlyn got hit with a memory of the wolves that saved her from getting eaten by the snake. _'You forgot to mention _wolves_, Alex. But, chances are they wouldn't even know anything about giant wolves that kill monsters,'_ Kaitlyn thought, a doubting edge coloring her thoughts. _'I could _ask _them, but what are the odds of them knowing anything about giant monster-killing wolves?'_

Seeing the look of deep thought on Kaitlyn's face, Seth chuckled a little before saying "You know, Kaitlyn. If you have a question to ask, you know that you can just ask it, right?"

Snapping out of her inner thought bubble after hearing Seth say this, Kaitlyn said "It's a bit of a weird question. I don't think you guys'll be able to answer it."

"Can't be any weirder than anything else you've asked us about," Seth said. Hoping to reassure Kaitlyn, Seth rested a hand on her shoulder and said "Whatever it is, you can ask us."

Looking between Seth and over to Cody and to Alex to see the two brunettes giving her reassuring glances of their own, Kaitlyn took a breath before asking "Would you guys, know anything, about, wolves that, kill the things in the woods?"

An awkward silence seemed to fall over Seth, Cody, and Alex after Kaitlyn asked about wolves that kill the demons in the woods. Alex could only fidget in place as she bit her lip while Seth and Cody shared a look as they tried to come up with an explanation that wouldn't give their secret away. Finally settling on an explanation that he felt would settle Kaitlyn's curiosity, Seth said "It's a bit of an old Louisiana legend that wolves protect people from monsters. Maybe what you say you saw last night were wolf spirits coming to save you."

"Could be," Kaitlyn said, still feeling a bit weirded out over the weird looks on Alex, Seth, and Cody's faces. _'I can't help but feel like they're hiding something from me. But, I wouldn't feel right trying get any info out of them,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Sending an appreciative smile to the three, Kaitlyn said "Thanks for everything, you guys. I think I better understand what it was that I saw."

"It's no problem at all, Kaitlyn," Seth said, smiling at the two-toned woman as Alex took her seat back beside Cody. "Now, about my earlier offer. Would you like some breakfast?"

"It's best to take Seth up on his offer, Kaitlyn," Cody said. "He'll just bug you until you eventually have some."

Laughing at the way Seth shoved Cody, Kaitlyn couldn't help but think that the two were acting almost like brothers. _'Alex _did_ say that Seth was like a brother to them. I guess this is part of what she meant by that,'_ Kaitlyn thought as another growl rumbled through her stomach. Blushing as Alex, Cody, and Seth snickered at her, Kaitlyn said "I guess I could have a _little_ to eat."

Smiling that Kaitlyn took him up on his offer, Seth went about getting a plate, fork and knife, putting two pancakes and a couple of strips of bacon on the plate, and then setting the plate and utensils in front of Kaitlyn. Stepping away as he went to get a cup, Seth asked "You thirsty for anything, Kaitlyn? Coffee? Juice? Milk? Water?"

"I think I'll be fine with some milk," Kaitlyn said, watching as Seth bustled around in the kitchen. Reaching for the bottle of syrup for her pancakes, Kaitlyn asked "Is Seth always like this?"

"Only with girls that he cares about," Alex said, biting a piece of bacon.

Shaking off the sudden blush she felt climbing her face, Kaitlyn went about eating the food Seth had put on the plate as she listened to the three having a talk chiming in where she saw fit. Finishing the last of her food and drinking the last of her milk, Kaitlyn sat back and, letting out a content sigh, said "Man, that was good!"

"It really was," Alex said, still eating her food. Looking over at Seth and giving the older man a thumbs up, Alex said "Congrats Seth. Not only did you not burn the apartment down, but you also made some good food for us."

Flicking a tiny piece of pancake at the brunette as he laughed, Seth said "Well, thanks, Alex. Just my way of paying you back for the cookies."

Laughing as she stood up, Kaitlyn said "I hate to eat and run, but I've got to be headed back to my apartment soon."

"Why so soon?" Seth asked, not wanting Kaitlyn to leave just yet.

"I've got to be getting ready to head out for work soon, so I was going to go and take a nap before I have to leave," Kaitlyn said. Taking a look over the three, Kaitlyn said "I just want to say thanks. To all three of you guys. I'm just so grateful that I've been able to meet people that know what it's like to be different like I am."

"Just know that we'll always be here if you need help with anything," Seth said, walking over to join Kaitlyn. "Helping people is one of the things we do best."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Kaitlyn said as she and Seth headed for the door. Looking up at the two-toned man, Kaitlyn said "See you around."

"Sure. Have fun at work, I guess," Seth said, opening the door for Kaitlyn.

Stepping through the doorway, Kaitlyn turned back to give Seth a quick hug before saying a quick "See ya" and heading down the hall. Pulling her key out of her shorts pocket and using it to unlock the door, Kaitlyn quickly went inside before closing the door behind her. Locking the door, Kaitlyn walked into her living room and laid down on the couch she slept on last night. _'Something seemed weird about Alex, Cody, and Seth when I asked about the wolves. Why do I have the feeling they were hiding something from me? Me talking about the wolves seemed to scare them for some odd reason. And I _still_ don't feel like I know that much about the wolves, or that snake, or the Chitters, or, hell,_ anything_ that's not normal in my life. Well, if they won't tell me anything else, then it looks like I'll have to get the answers on my own,'_ Kaitlyn thought as she closed her eyes and drifted off into a nap.

...

Seth had just closed the door and turned around when he saw Cody staring at him. Sighing as he rolled his eyes, Seth said "Alright, Codes. Get it off your chest."

"What? I wasn't going to say anything," Cody said, shrugging as he stood up and took his dirty dishes over to the sink. "I mean, why would I say anything about the fact that you were practically drooling over her while she was here?"

"It's called being neighborly, Cody. Heard of that? I'm sure you have since your dad taught you all about that chivalry stuff," Seth said. Leaning against the door, Seth said "Besides, what's it to you that I was trying to be helpful?"

"We just don't want you to end up falling for her, only for you to get hurt in the end," Alex said. Hesitating, Alex then said "After everything with Leva, we just don't want you to end up getting hurt again."

"Things won't be like they were with Leva!" Seth shouted, causing Alex to drop her fork in fear.

"And how do you know that for certain, Seth?!" Cody asked, the same level of intensity in his voice as he slammed his dishes down in the sink. "You were so certain that Leva would be protected and safe with you and look what you let happen! She's dead because of you."

"Take that back, Rhodes!" Seth growled out, his normally green eyes flickering to yellow as his canines grew longer.

"And what if I don't?" Cody asked, his own blue eyes flickering to yellow. "You going to kill me? Or, better yet, are you going to let a Rabid do the job for you?"

Hearing Cody bring up what happened to Leva, Seth growled out "That's it!" before he lunged forward only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a pain that seemed to split his skull in half. Groaning in pain and clutching his ears, Seth dropped down on the floor with Cody doing the same thing. After a few minutes, the pain seemed to slowly fade away as he stood up and saw a wide and teary eyed Alex holding a dog whistle as she tried to get her breathing under control.

Looking between the two men, Alex said "I don't like in-pack conflict. You two know that!"

"Cody was the one that started it!" Seth said, pointing at the other wolf. "He knows I hate it when what happened to Leva gets brought up!"

"I wasn't doing it to get a rise out of you, Seth," Cody said, holding up his hands defensively. Sighing as he better explained himself, Cody said "Look. I was trying to tell you to not get too distracted by Kaitlyn while you're trying to keep her safe. I know she reminds you of Leva, but you can't let your blind crush distract you."

"I know, Cody, I know. Shit, it's all just so hard," Seth said, tears fogging his vision. Letting a few roll down his cheeks, Seth said, his voice breaking, "It just hurts so much without her here. And it hurts even more knowing that _I'm_ the reason why she's not here anymore." Feeling a pair of arms wrap around his waist, Seth didn't have to open his eyes to know that it was Alex. Letting the younger brunette hug him while Cody walked over and rested a hand on his shoulder, Seth just let two of the only other pack members he ever showed his vulnerable side to work to keep him calm as he thought _'Cody's wrong. _Dead damn wrong._ I won't make the same mistake with Kaitlyn that I made with Leva. I _will _keep her safe and I_ will_ keep her protected._'

...

Getting off of work early enough, Kaitlyn made her way back to the Heights to get her car. After getting in her Beetle and starting it up, Kaitlyn then pulled out of the Heights parking lot as she drove through the New Orleans traffic, finally reaching her destination. Parking and getting out of her car, Kaitlyn walked up the building's front steps and headed inside, abandoning the heat of the outside for the air-conditioned inside of the building. Walking past the desk at the front of the building, Kaitlyn found herself stopped by a voice.

"Welcome to the New Orleans Public Library," said the male voice. "My name is Matt Striker and I'm the head librarian in charge. How may I be of assistance to you today?"

Turning to the librarian, Kaitlyn walked over to his desk and said "Hi, Matt. My name's Kaitlyn. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the books on different legends and histories."

**Shirtless Seth Rollins that offers you breakfast...pretty hot of a visual if you ask me. X3 *loud coughs* So! Looks like Kaitlyn's trying and somewhat succeeding at remembering what happened to her when she went into the woods...she can't seem to remember how it was that she got her weird looking bruise and scraped up knee. So, being the ever curious dork she is, she decides to take a trip to Seth, Cody, and Alex's room in the hopes of getting answers from the three inside. At first it seems like neither of the three has anything to tell her until she shows off proof of her getting attacked...proof that it seemed like Seth and Alex knew how to take care of. Kaitlyn and Alex have a _bit_ of a standoff after Kaitlyn pretty much finds out that the creature she saw in the woods was _very real_ with Alex ultimately reassuring the two-toned woman (without giving away Seth and Cody's secret) that they didn't have to worry about the creatures in the woods getting to them. Hearing Alex say this has Kaitlyn thinking of the wolves that saved her, only for the trio to get a bit weirded out before Seth tells her a white lie that seems to ease her curiosity some. Accepting what Seth tells her, Kaitlyn decides to join the three for breakfast. And after going back to her apartment, Kaitlyn decides to do more research on her own...research that she begins at the library. (...She's a bit of a dork, what'd you guys expect?) Switching to Seth, he tries to keep from losing his cool when Cody talks about how he was acting around Kaitlyn...but, ultimately fails when Cody hits his 'Don't Push' button. Thank the heavens for Alex acting quick and using the dog whistle she had with her to stop a full-on battle of the wolves from happening in their apartment. After managing to calm down, Seth lets some pent-up guilt hit him while Cody and Alex do what pack members and help one of their own. So, question time! You guys any closer to guessing who Leva is and what she was to Seth? What will Kaitlyn find out with her research? Stay tuned to find out. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)**


	9. A Quest for Answers (Part 2)

_ "Welcome to the New Orleans Public Library," said the male voice. "My name is Matt Striker and I'm the head librarian in charge. How may I be of assistance to you today?"_

_ Turning to the librarian, Kaitlyn walked over to his desk and said "Hi, Matt. My name's Kaitlyn. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the books on different legends and histories."_

**Into the library and Kaitlyn's search for knowledge, we go! Enjoy. =) **

"Of course," Matt said, rising from his seat. Stepping around the desk, Matt said "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the section you're looking for."

Falling in step with the brunette librarian, Kaitlyn couldn't help the nervous fluttering that seemed to rip through her. She had gotten some answers earlier, but now she was going to learn more about what it was that she had seen in the woods the night before. _'There has to be _something_ here that'll be helpful to me. Especially since it seems like I've hit a brick wall with the only people I've met that know anything about this supernatural junk,'_ Kaitlyn thought.

Stopping in a section that had a sign that read 'The History of Louisiana', Matt turned to look at Kaitlyn and said "Here's where you'll find books on the histories of the various parts of New Orleans culture. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No. I, uh, I think I got everything handled from here," Kaitlyn said, sending a smile to Matt in thanks.

"OK. Good. Just, give me a shout if you need help with anything," Matt said, turning on his heel as he hurried back to his desk.

Finally alone, Kaitlyn turned to the shelves of books in front of her with a determined look on her face. _'And now. To hopefully find the answers to the questions that have been plaguing me,'_ Kaitlyn thought, heading for the shelf that was closest to her.

...

Seth and Alex had been standing at the edge of the woods for the past few minutes as they waited for Cody. It had been a bit of a ritual for the two since they went into the city where when Seth had to leave for guard duty, he and Alex would wait at the edge of the woods for Cody to show up.

Watching as Seth paced in circles, Alex said "Seth, calm down. Cody'll be here soon. You just need to be patient."

"I know, Alex, I know. I've just never been this pumped up to go kill before," Seth said.

Laughing, Alex said "Wow, Seth. I think that's the first time I've ever heard someone say that. Might want to watch who you say stuff like that around."

"Good point. Last thing I want is for people to think I'm some kind of raving lunatic," Seth said, slowing his pacing. Looking over to see Alex open her mouth to say something, Seth cut the younger girl off by saying "Not a word, Lexi."

"What? I wasn't going to say anything," Alex said, holding her hands up defensively as a grin worked its way across her face.

Seeing the grin on Alex's face, Seth shook his head as he said "Remind me why it is that I put up with you."

"Because I help keep you fed and I'm good at baking," Alex said, grinning.

"Good thing, too," Cody said, leaning against a tree as he watched the two. "Seth'd probably starve if _someone_ didn't help keep his stomach full."

"Like you're one to talk, Cody," Seth said, lightly punching the younger man on the shoulder. Watching on as Cody laughed and walked over to Alex, Seth said "You two keep an eye on things while I'm gone."

"Always," Cody said, nodding his head as Seth shifted to his wolf form.

Walking over to Seth, Alex wrapped her arms around Seth's furry neck as she said "Be safe tonight, Seth. You, Dean, Ro, and the others on night watch with you guys." Pulling away as she got a nod from Seth, Alex watched as he turned and sped off into the woods. After watching Seth disappear into the trees, Alex turned and walked back over to Cody as he took her hand and the two headed back to the Heights.

Looking over and seeing the look of thought on Alex's face, Cody nudged Alex with his elbow and said "You're awfully quiet."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Alex said.

"Something's on your mind. I don't need to be telepathic to know that," Cody said, chuckling at the blush that spread across his girlfriend's face. Lightly squeezing Alex's hand, Cody said "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Looking over to her boyfriend, Alex sighed and said "I've just been thinking a lot about our talk with Kaitlyn earlier. She _really_ seemed like she wanted to know a lot about what happened to her in the woods."

"We were at least able to tell her a bit about what she wanted to know," Cody said, having a feeling that this was what was on Alex's mind.

"I know. But, when she asked about the wolves that saved her," Alex said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. "I don't think she believed Seth when he said it was just wolf spirits that saved her."

"I get why you might be worried, but I don't think you should be worried that much," Cody said. "Besides, even if she didn't believe what Seth told her, I don't think she'll be able to piece it together that real wolves were what saved her."

"I guess you're right," Alex said, threading her fingers through Cody's. Walking along with Cody, Alex couldn't help but think '_I just can't help but think that she'll end up finding out.'_

...

Kaitlyn had just slammed another book closed and threw it to the end of her couch when she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. _'Can't believe all these books I checked out and not a single one has been any help,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Looking over to see that she had one more left, Kaitlyn sighed and said "Oh well. Just one more." Readjusting her glasses and then picking up the book, Kaitlyn reread the title aloud.

"The Loup-garou and Other Louisiana Myths & Legends. Sounds like a book of ghost stories to me. But, it might be helpful," Kaitlyn said. Opening the book and flipping past the first few pages, Kaitlyn immediately noticed an picture that caught her attention: The black and white illustration was of a large wolf that seemed to be chasing after something. _'Just like the wolves that saved me last night,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Flipping to the table of contents, Kaitlyn saw that each chapter seemed to cover a different Louisiana legend. "Fifolet, The Swamp Thing, Ol' Miss Margie. These sound like episodes of Goosebumps," Kaitlyn said as she looked over more of the chapter names. Stopping at the name of one of the last chapters in the book, Kaitlyn felt curious to read on. Turning to the page that started this chapter, Kaitlyn stopped on the page that started the chapter she had felt drawn to: The Loup-garou. The Wolf Man of The Louisiana Bayou.

Immediately, Kaitlyn felt she had the right chapter because of the illustration that was under the chapter title: The illustration was of another large wolf; only this illustration was of the wolf howling at the moon. Swallowing as a shudder ran up her spine, Kaitlyn set the other books on her coffee table and settled into her couch as she launched into reading.

"The Loup-garou is a legend that dates back to the beginning of Louisiana and even the beginning of colonization of the New World by the early natives. Stories have often been passed down through generations of people that can take on the form of wolves to protect those close to them from forces that mean them harm," Kaitlyn began before she looked up. _'This _is_ a book on Louisiana myths and legends I picked up, right? Why does this feel like stuff that's been ripped from Twilight and Teen Wolf?'_ Kaitlyn thought. Shaking away these minor irritations, Kaitlyn read on. "The first real known instance of a Loup-garou sighting was in Mississippi in the 1960s. A hunter, who chose to remain nameless, recalled a hunting trip he went on when he saw a man eating the innards of a deer that had been killed and disemboweled. Upon seeing the hunter, the man eating the innards growled at him as he, unbelievably enough, turned into a black furred wolf and sped off further into the woods. Since that night, there have been scattered reports of other sightings from people that have claimed to see men that can turn into wolves only for a large number of these reports to be debunked by forest rangers and others. However, while there is a large amount of myth surrounding this creature, there are a number of Louisiana residents and others in Southern states that believe in the fact that this creature is very much real and prowling the very woods of the states, towns, and cities they call home," Kaitlyn read, reaching the end of the chapter. Seeing that she had reached the end of the chapter, Kaitlyn, in her disbelief, said "That's it? That's all they have in this book on the Loup-garou? That was barely anything in the way of helpful information; that was just, a little history with talk about sightings." Closing the book as she threw it on the coffee table and knocking the tower of books over, Kaitlyn took off her glasses as she rested her head in her hands in frustration. _'I seriously _cannot_ believe this. All of the reading and searching in these books and I just barely graze the tip of the iceberg with all of this,'_ Kaitlyn thought. Lifting her head out of her hands, Kaitlyn ran to get her laptop off its charger from her room. Going back to the couch, Kaitlyn powered on her laptop and put her glasses back on. Once she was staring at her desktop screen, Kaitlyn clicked on her internet browser. After the browser came up, Kaitlyn immediately went to Google. Once Google popped up on her computer screen, Kaitlyn typed into the search engine 'loup-garou myth'. _'This is it. If Google doesn't give me the answers I'm looking for, then I give up,'_ Kaitlyn thought, resettling into her couch as she began her search through the many pages of results Google produced for her.

...

"Seth. Seth! You gotta calm down, bro!" Dean yelled in a bid to calm Seth down. The sandy blonde and his brothers had been on the verge of killing a demon when the creature somehow managed to fight out of the combined clawed grip of the three wolves. Upon seeing that the creature had managed to get away, Seth growled as he shifted back into his human form and, walking over to the nearest tree he saw and began punching at the bark of the trunk.

"How the hell do you expect me to calm down, Dean?!" Seth snapped. "We let a damn Scorpios get away! Do you not know what kind of damage those things can cause?!"

"We know, Seth. Losing your cool about it won't help the fact that there's a Scorpios on the loose," Roman said. Looking in the direction the Scorpios ran off, Roman tried to pick up on the demon's scent before finally saying "I can't pick up its scent. It must've ran off into the city by now."

"Are you fucking serious?!" Seth yelled, his claws snapping out. Punching out at the tree again, Seth sighed in defeat before slumping against the tree trunk and, sinking down to the forest floor, said "There's no way me and Cody can take down a Scorpios on our own. We just barely managed to get lucky when we killed that Creeper. Even with Alex there with us, there's just no damn way."

"If you think for a minute that we're going to let you, Cody, and Alex take on a Scorpios by yourselves, then you've lost every bit of your damn mind, Seth," Dean said. "And that's coming from me."

Looking up at Dean, Seth asked "Really? You and Roman are willing to risk getting maimed by Trish and the others just to help me out?"

"Brothers stick with each other no matter what," Roman said, turning to look at Dean and Seth. Adding with a somewhat cocky smirk, Roman said "And if that means we go deaf thanks to Trish, then so be it."

Smiling over the swell of relief that went through him, Seth stood and made his way to the edge of the woods to wait for Dean and Roman to tell the others in their watch group that they were going with Seth into the city to kill the Scorpios that managed to escape them. Waiting at the edge of the woods, Seth nervously hopped from one foot to the other as he looked behind him and saw the sun begin to rise in the sky. _'We're going to take this thing down. There's no way in hell I'm going to let it hurt Kaitlyn or Alex or Mick or anyone else. I won't screw this up,'_ Seth thought as he clenched his fist in determination.

...

The next morning, Kaitlyn woke up from another nightmare as she sat straight up on the couch and tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes. Looking around, Kaitlyn saw the scattered pile of library books and her open laptop and put it together that she had fallen asleep while she was doing her research. _'First I'm dreaming about being chased by something. Now I'm having dreams about getting killed by something. What the hell is up with these nightmares?'_ Kaitlyn thought.

Standing as she headed to the bathroom, Kaitlyn turned on the sink and splashed some cold water on her face in the hopes of trying to wake herself up. Reaching for a towel and drying her face off, Kaitlyn turned off the water only to look down in the sink and see that the water had a slight pinkish tint to it. _'What the hell?'_ Kaitlyn thought, confused at why the water looked pink.

Lifting her head to look at her reflection in the mirror, Kaitlyn saw that there was a dry red trail that went down the left side of her face. Trying to keep a clamp on the panic that seemed to rise in her, Kaitlyn ran the water again as she scrubbed at the trail on her face. Looking back up at her reflection, Kaitlyn let out a sigh of relief over the fact that she was able to get rid of the red trail. Turning off the water and drying her face, Kaitlyn walked out of the bathroom as she walked into the living room and sat back down on the couch. Running her fingers through her hair, Kaitlyn tried to cycle through everything she had read when she was doing her research in a bid to try to ignore what she just saw in the bathroom.

"So, from what I found out, apparently there _is_ such a thing as the loup-garou, that's pretty much a werewolf. And they kill demons and other monsters," Kaitlyn said out loud. Letting the reality of what she said sink in, Kaitlyn rested her head in her hands as she said "It's official. I'm going insane. I have to be to think any of that stuff is real. But, it _felt so real_. Those _must've_ been loup-garous or something that saved me from that monster, or demon, or whatever the hell it was. Especially that wolf with the blonde in its fur. Something about that wolf and the other two with it seemed so, safe and comforting. But, what was it?"

**I just want to say this...books _can_ help when you're doing research, but I guess there are only some things you can find out by going on the Internet. Now, onto le recap. Kaitlyn's search through the books she checked out seemed to at least point her in the right direction...she just couldn't seem to find anything in the books. But, Google to the rescue to help her come to the realization that what saved her was a trio of loup-garous (and, just to clear this up, loup-garous are a bit of a staple in Southern myths when it comes to werewolves and such). Now, Kaitlyn seems to find herself plagued with trying to figure out why the two-toned wolf seemed so safe and comforting to her. Switching to Seth, yeahh, he's angry. But, then again, I'm sure most people would be too if their prey got away from them. Now faced with the horrible reality of a Scorpios demon (and to have a good idea of what a Scorpios is, think big scorpions) loose in the city, Seth is at least taking comfort in the fact that Dean and Roman are going to come with him to help kill it. Ohh, so much in store for next chapter. Whether it's Kaitlyn dealing with a new nightmare that seems to have led to her bleeding from her eye or Seth, Dean, and Roman having to go after a demon that could do some serious harm, lots of stuff's going to go down. Until next time, don't forget to R&R please. =)**

****(One more thing while I'm still here. My good friend, foldintothenight, just recently started working on her vampire fic. Hop on over to her profile and give it a read. It's off to a really good start. Plus, it's Corey Graves/Paige. You just can't go wrong with that pairing. Also, while you guys are there, give the poll she has up a vote for a future fic she plans to start. Whichever one she starts next won't disappoint...just like all of her stories. =) )****


	10. Dire Times in New Orleans

**Major heads-up here, my dolls. Things get _real_ fighty and intense further into the chapter. Expect violence, swearing, and all that good stuff. Enjoy. =)**

"Damn. Can't believe we've been searching for hours and we haven't found the damn Scorpios," Dean said, shoving another beignet into his mouth. Dean and Roman had been in New Orleans with Seth for the better part of a few hours and, so far, their search for the Scorpios had been unsuccessful.

"It isn't exactly going to be a walk in the park, Dean," Roman said, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in. "Being around all these humans is obviously going to make it hard for us to keep a lock on the Scorpios's scent."

"I just hate that so many of these demons we're dealing with can actually change into humans," Dean said, ignoring the powdered sugar from the beignet he had just eaten that was on his face. "Just makes the hunt even harder."

"We'll find it, Dean!" Seth said, slamming a fist down on the table. "We _have _to."

"OK, OK, Seth," Dean said, holding up his hands defensively. "Geez. No need to get your boxers in a bunch."

Sighing as he ran a hand through his two-toned hair, Seth said "Sorry, Dean. I'm just, a little on edge is all" as he rested his head in his hands. "It's like that fucking Creeper me and Cody lost all over again."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Dean said, reaching for another beignet. "You and Codes were able to knife it, so this oughta be just as easy. Well, if we could just find the Scorpios first."

Noticing the way Seth was holding his head and how he said what he said earlier, Roman said "This is more about finding the Scorpios. You're hiding something from us, Seth."

Lifting his head as he looked over to the oldest of his brothers, Seth let out a weak laugh before saying "Can't keep anything from you, can I, Rome? You'd be right in saying that. This _is_ about a bit more than finding the Scorpios."

"Thought so," Roman said, looking over to the youngest of the three men. "You want to clue us in on what it is?"

Looking between Roman, who seemed to have a sense of warm understanding in his normally steely grey eyes, and Dean, who seemed a bit occupied with trying to eat as many beignets as he could, Seth let out a breath and said "I, met someone while me, Cody, and Alex have been here."

"And?" Roman asked, waving his hand as an indicator for Seth to go on.

"_And_, she, reminds me of Leva," Seth said, getting the last of his sentence out before grabbing the cup of iced tea he had and taking a long drink.

Hearing Seth mention Leva, Roman ventured and asked "Is this someone you met that Kaitlyn girl you three got sent here to keep an eye on? The same Kaitlyn you saved that night in the woods?"

"Yeah, Ro," Seth said, setting his now almost empty cup down on the table. Starting to feel a strange empassioned feeling start to bloom in him, Seth said "Man, Ro. She's smart, she's nice, she's cute, she's funny, she's been opening up to us really well, and she's been _really_ open to wanting to learn about Chitters and stuff. She's, just like how Leva was."

"Interesting," Dean said, swallowing the mouthful of beignet he had. "And, how does it feel knowing that the girl you've got the hots for is pretty much like your dead ex?"

Casting a pointed glare in Dean's direction, Seth said "One, Leva was _never_ my ex. She just got taken away from me too soon. Two, it doesn't feel as weird as most people would _think_ it would be. And three, you're going to swell up like a whale if you keep eating those."

"Well, I need _something_ to fill me up," Dean said, shaking the half-eaten pastry at Seth and getting powdered sugar on the table. "Although, I can say this. These have _nothing _on the stuff Alex can make. Never thought I'd miss someone's cooking as much as I am hers."

"Dean. It's only been four days," Seth said, trying to keep the smirk off of his face. "We're still trying to do what we can to help Kaitlyn out with finding out about what she sees."

"Longest four days of my life," Dean mumbled, grabbing the cup of iced tea he had and taking a drink.

Shaking his head as he noticed his cup was almost empty, Seth stood and headed up to the counter of the coffee shop he, Dean, and Roman had decided to get a midday snack at. He had just walked up to the counter when a familiar voice caught him by surprise.

"Seth? What are you doing here?"

Turning around, Seth found himself face to face with Kaitlyn. Managing to keep his grip on the cup he had, Seth asked "What am _I_ doing here? What are _you_ doing here?"

"I, work here," Kaitlyn said, a slight pink blush coloring her cheeks. "What about you? I'm not really used to seeing you out much during the day."

"I'm, actually here with my brothers," Seth said, feeling his cheeks start to heat a bit. "They, came into town, so I decided to meet up with them."

"That's cool," Kaitlyn said. "Where are they sitting?"

Pointing at the table Roman and Dean were sitting at, Seth said "Right there. Pay no mind to the guy shoveling beignets into his mouth. He just skipped out on breakfast this morning."

"That'd explain the order we got for ten plates of beignets," Kaitlyn said, watching Dean in amazement. Looking back to Seth, Kaitlyn asked "Are they, like you? I mean, do they have a second sight like you do?"

"Yeah, they do," Seth said. "If you'd like, I could introduce you to them."

"Um, maybe later," Kaitlyn said. Biting her lip, Kaitlyn said "Actually, there's something I want to ask you, Seth."

Seeing the nervous way Kaitlyn was biting her lip, Seth said "Sure, Kaitlyn. What is it?"

Trying to find the right words to say, Kaitlyn instead shook her head and said "Forget it. It's, not even really all that important. I'll, ask later."

"Oh. OK, then," Seth said, feeling a bit weird that Kaitlyn just turned down asking him something.

The two stood in a not-so awkward silence for a couple of minutes until Kaitlyn said "I should, probably be focused on working right now."

"Good point," Seth said, smiling at the two-toned woman. "I guess I'll see you after your shift."

"Sure," Kaitlyn said, returning Seth's smile with one of her own. "See you later then."

Watching as Kaitlyn headed behind the counter and into one of the back rooms, Seth filled his cup with more iced tea and headed back over to where Roman and Dean were still sitting.

"Really, Seth? I'm 'shoveling' beignets into my mouth?" Dean asked.

Shrugging nonchalantly, Seth said "Just calling it like I see it, bro." Looking over at Roman, Seth noticed the look of thought on the Samoan's face. Venturing a question, Seth asked "Roman? You okay?"

Blinking as he came out of his own thought bubble, Roman said "Yeah. Just, felt something."

"Something good or something bad?" Seth asked.

"Nothing like that. I felt, another presence in here," Roman said. "Not the presence of the Scorpios, but something just as strange."

"That's weird," Seth said, trying to see if he could sense the same presence Roman seemed to feel. _'Something just as strange as a Scorpios? What the hell is going on?'_ Seth thought.

...

Kaitlyn had long since left Java Jackie's after finishing her shift and was walking back to the Heights. While she was at work, Kaitlyn had a chat with Layla that had her thoughts occupied for most of the rest of her shift. After some good-natured ribbing over Kaitlyn talking to Seth, Layla then told Kaitlyn about another vision that she had recently had; Layla had seen who she had recognized as Seth along with four other people killing some kind of monster. When Kaitlyn asked what exactly the vision to do with her, Layla then grimly said that Kaitlyn had gotten badly hurt by the monster. The eerie thing about what Layla said she saw seemed to match up to the nightmare Kaitlyn had the night before. _'This is all so weird. Did I do something wrong to have nightmares about all of these monsters coming after me? Or, could it all mean something?'_ Kaitlyn thought. Trying to shake away the crawling fear that seemed to settle over her, Kaitlyn kept walking when the sight of someone sitting outside of the Heights caught her by surprise. Walking over to this person, who was dressed in tattered looking clothes, Kaitlyn asked "Hey. Are you alright?"

Looking over to Kaitlyn, the man said, in a somewhat hoarse voice, "I'm fine. I'm just, feeling a little hungry."

"Oh. Well, why don't you come inside? I could give you something to eat," Kaitlyn said, worried about the person. It wasn't just the tattered clothes that had Kaitlyn worried; she also couldn't seem to ignore what looked like dark bags around the person's eyes and the strange sharpness to the person's teeth.

"I wouldn't want to trouble you, miss," the man said.

"It's no trouble at all," Kaitlyn said, smiling at the man. "Besides, I wouldn't feel right if I just left someone out here in the dark. It'd go against my Southern hospitable nature."

"Thank you," the man said, rising to his feet as he followed Kaitlyn inside of the Heights.

What Kaitlyn didn't realize was that she made a horrible and fatal mistake in inviting this man inside the Heights; because little did she know, the man's face was split in an inhumanly wide smile that showed rows of razor-sharp teeth. Not even the frantic chirping of the Chitters could protect her from what was going to happen.

...

Dean, Roman, Cody, and Alex all sat in Seth, Cody, and Alex's apartment trying to figure out why the search for the Scorpios was seemingly coming up empty while Seth paced around in nervous circles, raking his hands through his two-toned hair.

"I can't believe all the searching we did earlier today and we _still_ didn't find it," Dean said, scrubbing a hand down his face.

"It just doesn't make any sense," Roman said. "It's never been this hard to find a demon; even if it _does_ manage to get away, we can always find it."

"You don't think it managed to hide itself somehow, do you, Ro?" Alex asked from where she was sitting beside Cody on the air mattress.

Sighing, Roman said "I didn't want to consider that possibility, but I'm beginning to think that _may_ just be the case."

Hearing Roman say this, Seth growled and punched out at the wall in frustration. "That just makes it all the more difficult to find it! _We have to find it!"_

"And we _will_, Seth," Cody said. "We just need to make sure we buckle down in our search."

"You'd be wise to listen to Cody, Seth," Dean said. "We'll find the Scorpios. We'll find it and we'll make it our bitch!"

Liking the sound of what Dean said, Seth had just grinned at what his brother said when he and the others were broken out of their talk by an ear-splitting scream. Making a dash for the door, Seth stepped out in the hallway and, taking a sniff of the air, caught the scent of what he, Dean, and Roman had feverishly spent most of the day combing the city looking for. Turning back to look in the room as his eyes flicked to yellow, Seth said "You guys! It's here!"

Leaping to their feet, Dean, Roman, Cody, and Alex all sped over to the open doorway as Roman asked "Where is it?"

Taking an even deeper breath as he tried to pinpoint exactly where the Scorpios was, Seth's eyes widened in horror as he followed the scent and stopped right outside one of the doors on their floor. "Oh no," Seth breathed out.

...

Kaitlyn had taken the man into her apartment and proceeded to head into her kitchen with the man closing the door behind him. "There anything in particular you'd like to eat? I've got Pop Tarts, cereal, soup, and some other stuff if you'd rather have something warm," Kaitlyn said.

"Something warm would be fine," the man said, his hoarse voice turning seemingly gravelly.

"OK. Let me just get you some soup and heat it up," Kaitlyn said, walking over to the cabinets. Kaitlyn had just gotten out a bowl and a can of soup when she turned around and found herself face to face with the man. Feeling a bit uneasy, Kaitlyn said "Uh, you can go sit on one the couches if you'd like. No need to hover around me." Getting no answer from the man, Kaitlyn almost opened her mouth to say something when the next thing she saw made her heart all but stop and her blood run cold: Just like the day she had seen Seth and Cody kill the thing in the alley, Kaitlyn saw what looked like a large smoky shadow around the man that seemed to take on the shape of part of a rather large scorpion.

Noticing the look of fear that seemed to settle on Kaitlyn's face, the man smirked and hissed out "Aw, what's the matter? Does the little lady not want to help a poor sinner out in his time of need?"

Kaitlyn said nothing as she trembled in fear of this man in front of her. She was faced with a menacing thing that could end up hurting her as much as the snake monster in the woods did. In her panic, Kaitlyn swung out with the bowl and, seeing the man stagger back at the impact of the bowl shattering as jagged pieces of the ceramic bowl clattered to the ground, spun on her heel as she tried to make a dash for her bedroom only to be grabbed by the back of her shirt and pulled back to the man. Feeling herself being spun around, Kaitlyn found herself staring into the man's now red, yellow, and black eyes and at the sharp teeth that almost seemed to jut out of his mouth. Trying to feebly fight out of the man's grip, Kaitlyn heard the man hiss out "You could've just accepted your death. But, like the fool human you are, you just _had_ to try to fight your way away from me. And now, _you DIE!" _Feeling something wrap around her waist, Kaitlyn found herself pulled up into the air by the shadowy tail of the man. Wriggling around, Kaitlyn could only watch in horror as the man slowly lowered her down to his widened mouth. The fear of getting eaten slowly becoming an apparent reality, Kaitlyn let out a scream in the hopes that someone, _anyone_, would come to her rescue.

Kaitlyn was inches away from the man's gaping jaws when the door to her apartment got kicked in as Seth, Cody, Alex, and two other men poured into her apartment. "Guys!" Kaitlyn said, tears of relief starting to form in her eyes.

Turning to see the group behind him, the man darkly smirked and said "Well, well, well. If it isn't the wolves that couldn't put me down."

"You got lucky when you fought us off!" Seth said, stepping forward. "You can't run this time. There's _five_ of us now, and only _one_ of you!"

"That may be. But, if I remember right, you wolves and Hunters never hurt humans," the man said, tightening the grip of his tail on Kaitlyn.

Screaming out in pain at the increased pressure of the tail, Kaitlyn said "Seth, help!"

Maniacally laughing at the pain he was causing the two-toned woman, the man said "Yes, _Seth_. _Help her._"

Looking over at Seth and the others, Kaitlyn's eyes widened at the sight of Seth: She wasn't sure if the pain was making her see things or what, but she saw that Seth's eyes were yellow, his teeth were getting sharper, and his fingernails were getting longer. Her wonder over seeing Seth like this was dashed by a jolt of pain as the man tightened his grip on her again. Screaming out in pain, Kaitlyn felt what she was sure was the beginning of some bruising.

Not a minute was wasted after that as Seth snarled and lunged forward, tackling the man down to the ground as he rained punches down on the man. In the melee, Kaitlyn could only watch on from her suspension in the air by the man's tail as Seth fought with an inhuman fury and anger. Looking over to the group still standing in her doorway, Kaitlyn watched as the two men, who she had remembered Seth had told her were his brothers, walked over to help Seth while Cody and Alex walked around the fight as they tried to figure out a way to save Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn only watched as Alex pulled one of her pant legs up, revealing two daggers in a holster and handed one to Cody. The two then proceeded to try to find a weak spot in the tail as they tried to get Kaitlyn down.

Realizing that he was outnumbered and surrounded on all sides, the man let out an ear-splitting shriek that made the four men and Alex all cringe. Seeing the five disoriented, the man leapt to his feet with Kaitlyn still in the hold of his tail. Smirking at the destruction he caused, the man ran out of Kaitlyn's apartment with the two-toned woman still in his hold.

Tears now rolling down her face at the sight of what just happened, Kaitlyn could only watch on helplessly as Seth and the others laid on the ground not moving. _'Guys. No,'_ Kaitlyn thought as she was whisked out of her apartment.

...

Shaking the ringing she felt in her head away, Alex looked around and she saw that Seth, Dean, Roman, and Cody were all still cringing in pain from the Scorpios's shriek. Feeling a determination in her start to rise inside, Alex picked up the dagger she had and the dagger Cody had and ran out the apartment as she tried to find out which way the Scorpios went. Looking right and then left, Alex saw the back of the Scorpios/man and, taking aim with one of the daggers, thought _'Not today, you poison fucker'_ as she threw the dagger and watched as it connected with and dug into the man's back. Hearing the shriek come out of her target, Alex did a silent cheer over the fact that she was able to slow him down. Stepping forward, Alex said "That's as far as you go, Scorpios."

Turning around despite the pain that was radiating from his back, the Scorpios, who was now looking even more beastly than human with his large red, yellow, and black eyes, razor-sharp teeth that seemed to glisten a dark red color, and multiple arms that seemed to protrude out of his abdomen, hissed out, in a mocking tone, "Ah, the young Hunter. Come to save the human wench, are you?"

"I'm here to save my _friend,_" Alex said, an uncharacteristic anger on her face. "Let her go _now._ You don't want me to use my other dagger."

"Just try it," the Scorpios said. Slamming his tail into the ceiling above him as Kaitlyn's head bounced off the ceiling, the man said "Try to harm me with your puny knife."

Alex made a move to lunge forward when growling behind her made it clear that she should move out of the way. Watching on from where she had flattened herself against one of the doors, Alex watched as a growling and clawed Cody and Roman tackled the Scorpios further down the hall. Looking on, Alex saw the Scorpios's tail loosen its hold and then let Kaitlyn go. Watching as Kaitlyn fell to the floor, Alex quickly ran over to the two-toned woman, relief flooding through her only for her momentary relief to be replaced by chilling horror: Protruding out of Kaitlyn's left arm was a very large and lethal looking barb, there were some slight scratches and also some noticeable bruising on Kaitlyn's arms. Fear flooding through her, Alex couldn't help the scared panic that seemed to flood through her. Looking back to Kaitlyn's open apartment door, Alex screamed "_Dean, Seth! HELP!"_

Hurrying out of Kaitlyn's apartment, Seth and Dean quickly ran over to Alex only for Seth to stop in his tracks as the sight of Kaitlyn's condition made his blood run ice cold. Running over to Kaitlyn's other side, Seth asked "Alex? What happened?"

Trying to talk around the sobs that threatened to escape her, Alex, tears running down her face, said "I didn't even notice it when I ran out after them. I think the Scorpios might've stung her with its tail."

Hearing this, Dean's eyes widened as Seth brokenly said "No. No! _God_, _NO!_"

Putting a hand on Seth's arm as she tried to be strong, Alex said "Seth. _Seth. _Please don't lose it. We, we need to take her to the den. And we need to get her there _now._"

"Do you think she'll make it?" Dean asked, not showing that his heart was hurting a bit for his youngest brother and one of the girls that was like a sister to him.

"If I hold her and we ride on one of you guys' back, I think we can," Alex said, trying to wipe the tears from her face only to smear some of Kaitlyn's blood across her face.

Standing to his feet, Seth steeled himself and, his eyes still glowing yellow, said "I'll help Cody and Roman end that Scorpios. Alex,you and Dean take Kaitlyn back to the den. The three of us'll meet you guys there. Dean, make sure you get the girls there safe."

Handing Seth her other dagger, Alex said "Make it hurt, Seth."

Nodding his head, Dean said "You got it, Seth."

Feeling reassured that Alex and Dean were going to keep Kaitlyn safe and protected, Seth turned and sped down the hallway, dagger in hand and at the ready.

Gently lifting Kaitlyn from the floor, Alex carried her as best she could down the stairs with Dean following behind her. Feeling panicked once they reached the lobby, Alex looked up at Dean and asked "How are we going to get her through the city?"

"Let me carry her," Dean said. "I can make it to the woods faster than you can, Alex."

Biting her lip in nervous fear as she looked down at Kaitlyn, her condition getting seemingly worse, Alex handed her off to Dean and said "Be gentle with her. I'll make sure to tell our landlord where we're going."

Already knowing the deal with Mick, Dean nodded his head as he edged open the door and ran off into the night, holding Kaitlyn firmly against his chest. Once Dean was gone, Alex walked over to Mick's office and, after knocking on the door, was met with the sight of a still sleepy Mick.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he really took a look at Alex, Mick noticed the blood on Alex's face and on her shirt. Feeling a bit worried, Mick asked "Alex. What happened to you? And what's that commotion I'm hearing coming from your hallway?"

"No time to explain, Mick," Alex said, feeling more panicked as each second ticked by. "A demon managed to get past the wards on the building somehow, and it hurt Kaitlyn really bad. Me, Seth, Cody, and two of our friends are taking Kaitlyn back to the den so that we can fix her up."

"I'm not even sure how that's possible, but I'll make sure to get word out to come strengthen the wards on the Heights," Mick said, his own worry starting to rocket up a bit. "Help Kaitlyn. I _know_ you all can."

"We will, Mick. Don't worry about that," Alex said, nodding her head. Getting a nod from Mick, Alex turned on her heel and ran out of the Heights, heading down the sidewalk for the edge of the woods. Once she made it to the edge of the woods, Alex saw that Dean had already shifted into his wolf form and that Kaitlyn was laid on his back. "Thanks, Dean," Alex said, relieved. Carefully climbing onto Dean's back, Alex put her arms around either side of Kaitlyn's body. Hearing a moan from under her, Alex heard Kaitlyn weakly say "Alex? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Don't talk much, Kaitlyn. I'm going to help you," Alex said, tears of relief streaming down her face.

"I don't feel so good," Kaitlyn said around a moan. Lurching up, Kaitlyn leaned over Dean's side and vomited. Laying back down on Dean's back, Kaitlyn moaned and screamed in pain as she said "_It hurts so bad!_"

"Just hold on, Kait," Alex said, getting worried upon seeing what Kaitlyn's vomit looked like. Seeing Kaitlyn relax, Alex urgently said "Dean! Hurry! Kaitlyn's getting worse!" Leaning down and putting her arms on either side of Kaitlyn, Alex held on tightly as Dean sped off and ran into the woods in the direction of the pack house. All while Dean ran, as the wind blew through her hair and she kept her hold around Kaitlyn, Alex thought_ 'Don't worry, Kaitlyn. We're taking you somewhere to fix you up good as new. We're going to make you better. _I promise_!'_

**Recap time! Looks like our Shield wolf men weren't having much luck finding the Scorpios as they talked about while they were taking a midday lunch break (Dean more than Seth and Roman...just look at the way he was eating beignets). By some weird chance, Seth met up with Kaitlyn while she was working and sorta introduced her to Dean and Roman (although, I think Kaitlyn's only going to really remember Dean for being a chowhound). One talk with Kaitlyn later, Seth goes back to where Roman and Dean were sitting only to be told by Roman that he felt a strange presence in the coffee shop. Switching to Kaitlyn, after having a talk with Layla while the two were at work, she finds that Layla's had another vision about her that seems to match up with the recent nightmares she's been having. Getting back to the Heights from work, Kaitlyn sees a man in rags outside of the building...and out of the kindness of her heart, she decides to invite him for something to eat (big mistake there). Back to Seth and the others, it takes a group powwow for them to come to the realization that the Scorpios might have found a way to hide itself from detection. Hearing a scream from one of the rooms on their floor, Seth steps out, catches the Scorpios's scent, and follows it to... Back to Kaitlyn again, she's trying to find something for the man to eat only to find that he's become a bit space invadery. But when she tries to tell him to step out of her space, her second sight further kicks in letting her see the man for what he really is. She tries but fails to fight him off as she gets caught in the grip of his tail and hoisted up in the air as he tries to make a meal out of _her_. Wolves and Alex to the rescue! While Kaitlyn's relieved that Seth and the others came to save her, she can't help but feel a bit confused by Seth's semi-wolfing out (she thinks its only pain making her see that...if only she knew). One fight later with Alex managing to slow the Scorpios down and Cody and Roman tackling it, Kaitlyn is freed only for Alex to find that the Scorpios stung Kaitlyn with a barb from its tail (you can tell it wasn't a good sign the minute Alex and Seth almost broke down). With Seth deciding to stay behind and help Cody and Roman take down the Scorpios, it's up to Alex and Dean to get Kaitlyn back to the pack house...and judging by Kaitlyn's condition, they need to move _fast_ to get her there. The big question now is will Alex and Dean get Kaitlyn to the pack house before the poison from the Scorpios barb spreads through her body? You'll have to wait and see in the next chapter. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)**

**2 things. 1) I dropped some hints in this chapter that'll help you guys better figure out who Leva was to Seth. And, just a heads-up, I have a whole chapter planned up ahead where Seth tells Kaitlyn the story about Leva. 2) New rule time! Rule #5: The only way demons can get past wards is if they are invited in by someone (y'know, like old school vampire rules).**


	11. Recoveries and Revelations

All while Dean ran, as the wind blew through her hair and she kept her hold around Kaitlyn, Alex thought _'Don't worry, Kaitlyn. We're taking you somewhere to fix you up good as new. We're going to make you better. _I promise_!'_

**Sorry for the heart attacks I might've given you guys last chapter. ^^, Here's the follow-up for all that tension. Enjoy. =)  
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At the speed Dean was running, Alex, the wolf, and Kaitlyn made it to the pack house in a few minutes. Staying on Dean's back, Alex yelled to the house in the hopes someone inside would hear her. "Is anyone in there? Hello?! I need some help out here! It's an emergency!"

The doors to the pack house swung open as Matt ran out on the porch. Seeing his sister on Dean's back with another woman lying down in front of her, Matt ran off the steps and, walking over to where Alex and Dean were, asked "Alex, what happened? Who's this woman and why did you bring her here?"

Trying but failing to keep the panic out of her voice, Alex said "She got stung by a Scorpios barb, Matt! She isn't looking too good. Are Trish and Ashley here? We need to get her fixed up!"

Seeing and hearing the panic coming from Alex, Matt said "OK, sis. Let me take her inside and you and Dean can come in too" as he lifted Kaitlyn's semi-unconscious body off of Dean's back.

Nodding as she hopped off of Dean, Alex rested a hand on Kaitlyn's head as she said "It's alright, Kaitlyn. Just hang in there. We're going to help you." Standing by Dean as Matt took Kaitlyn inside, Alex didn't even realize that Dean had shifted back into his human form until she turned around and looked up at Dean, pleading with her eyes.

Getting the full message from Alex's look, Dean said "I'll wait out here for Seth, Code, and Rome. You go play nurse and help Trish and Ash fix Kaitlyn up."

Smiling as fresh tears spilled down her face, Alex tightly hugged Dean, which he returned, while saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you _so much_, Dean." Letting go of the older man, Alex ran inside the house and, going with her gut instinct, headed down the left hallway to where she knew the downstairs infirmary was as she pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail. Reaching the infirmary, Alex saw that Matt had just laid Kaitlyn down and that Trish and the other blonde woman in the room, Ashley Massaro, were moving around the room as they gathered what they were going to need to help Kaitlyn.

Seeing Alex standing in the doorway, Matt said "How did this Kaitlyn girl get attacked by a Scorpios? I thought you, Cody, and Seth were supposed to be keeping any rogue demons from hurting people."

"We were, Matt. It went undetected somehow and, next thing we know, we're heading to Kaitlyn's apartment and seeing the Scorpios trying to eat her," Alex said, stepping into the room. "I was able to get it away from her, and then Cody and Roman came in to help finish it off."

"Did you notice anything weird about her apartment when you and the others showed up?" Matt asked.

"Aside from some shards of something ceramic on the ground, not really," Alex said.

"She must've tried to fight it off and, while it had her, it stung her to try to get her to stop moving," Matt mused aloud.

"You'll have to get the full story from her later, Matt," Trish said, moving over to the bed as she laid a tray full of tools, bandages, and various closed bottles on one of the bedside tables. "We need to get the barb out of her and then work at getting her cleaned up."

"Alex, you might not like the sound of this, but you're going to have to leave with Matt," Ashley said as she moved to the side of the bed Alex was standing at.

"No way!" Alex said, an uncharacteristic defiance coloring her voice that surprised the two women and Matt. "I haven't really known her long, but I consider Kaitlyn to be a friend. _Please_ don't make me leave her. I want to help. This is just as much my fault as it is the guys' for not being quick enough to kill the Scorpios."

Sharing a look with Matt and Trish, Ashley then said "OK, Alex. I think we're going to need the extra set of hands anyway."

Feeling relieved that she could stay, Alex immediately began following the orders that Trish and Ashley were giving as far as what to hand them and what to grab from the cabinets while Matt stood to the side just in case the girls were going to need his help with anything. Alex had just handed Ashley another cloth she had wet with alcohol for the superficial scrapes on Kaitlyn's arms when Kaitlyn stirring caught her attention.

"Alex?" Kaitlyn weakly got out. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Kaitlyn, stay still. I'm here with some friends of mine and one of my brothers. We're getting you cleaned up. Just don't move too much," Alex said, trying to ease the two-toned woman's worries.

Before Kaitlyn could say anything else, the barb in her upper left arm sent another jolt of pain through her as she screamed out "Alex, it fucking hurts!"

"I know, Kaitlyn! Just don't move," Alex said, the barb jutting out of Kaitlyn's arm starting to worry her. Looking over to Trish, Alex said "Trish, we need to get this thing out of her arm _now!_"

Taking a look at the barb that seemed to be digging into Kaitlyn's arm, Trish said "Oh God. OK. Matt, we're going to need you over here." Once Matt was beside her, Trish said "Alright. Matt, you hold her down so that she won't move too much. Alex, grab one of Kaitlyn's hands so that you can try to keep her calm. Ash, on my count, we both pull the barb out."

"OK," Ashley said, nodding her head.

Once the others were in their places, Trish took hold of the top of the barb while Ashley gripped the middle of it. Making sure her and Ashley's grips was tight enough, Trish said "On the count of three, Ash. One. Two. _Three!_" At Trish's three count, both she and Ashley pulled with all their might as the barb came out, Kaitlyn screamed out as the barb came out and she lurched up on the bed, only to be held down by Matt.

Feeling Kaitlyn's grip on her hand tighten, Alex shouted "It's okay, Kaitlyn! They got it out! _They got it out!_"

Tears streaming down her face, Kaitlyn laid back on the bed as her breathing came out in fast pants. Smiling a bit weakly, Kaitlyn said "Thanks for that" before she laid back in the bed and closed her eyes.

Disposing of the barb on one of the empty trays on the bedside table, Trish let out a sigh of relief and, watching Ashley press gauze pads to the injured area, said "OK. That's out. Now we just need to stitch this area up and wrap it."

"OK," Alex said, wiping at her face with her free hand. "Are you going to need any help with that?"

"Me and Ash can handle it," Trish said. Smiling at the concerned look on the younger woman's face, Trish said "Kaitlyn'll be okay, Alex. She'll just need to sleep off the antivenom and the other meds that we give her."

"Trish is right, Alex," Ashley said, sending a reassuring smile to the younger brunette. "You can come back and see her once we finish cleaning her up."

Looking over to see Matt giving her a look that said "Don't worry, sis. Trish and Ash have this under control", Alex said "OK. I'll be back in a few just to check on her." Turning to walk out of the room with Matt following behind her, Alex had just walked down the hall as Matt closed the door to the infirmary as Seth charged through the front doors with Cody, Roman, and Dean on his heels. Walking forward to meet Seth, Alex stopped Seth before he could go any further. "Seth, Seth. You can't go back there just yet."

"I have to see Kaitlyn, Alex! I need to make sure she's okay!" Seth said, trying to get around Alex and Matt.

"You _can't_ right now, though," Alex said. Seeing the confused look on Seth's face, Alex said "Trish and Ash were able to get the barb out of Kaitlyn and they're working on giving her the antivenoms for the Scorpios poison and getting her stitched up and cleaned up right now."

Wanting to pass out in relief, Seth said "That's a relief. I thought we were going to lose her."

"We're _not going to _lose her, Seth," Alex said, smiling a comforting smile up at Seth. "She means too much to you to go down like this. Besides, I have a feeling that she's a fighter and that she'll fight her way out of this."

"I just hope you're right," Seth said, stray tears rolling down his face over his relief that Kaitlyn would pull through her Scorpios attack.

Not caring that Seth was covered in dried Scorpios blood, Alex gave Seth a tight hug as she thought _'She'll make it through this, Seth. I _know_ Kaitlyn will. She's got Leva's fighting spirit in her. I just _know_ she'll come out of this feeling okay.'_

...

An hour had passed and Trish and Ashley had just finishing cleaning the last of Kaitlyn's cuts and making sure that the bandages around where she got pierced by the Scorpios barb and her abdomen were tightly secured. The two women went about putting the bloody tools in the sink to clean off when knocking on the door caught their attention. Turning to look in the direction of the knocking, Trish and Ashley saw Seth and Alex standing in the doorway.

Laughing softly, Trish asked "You two just couldn't stay away. Could you?"

"Seth thought an hour was enough time for you and Ash to finish up in here," Alex said, walking into the infirmary with Seth following behind her as he went to take a seat at Kaitlyn's bedside. "How is she? Were you two able to do everything to Kaitlyn you needed to?"

"She's fine, Alex," Ashley said. "She's sleeping off the medicines that we gave her, the scrapes on her arms are healing over, and we were able to get all of the pieces of the Scorpios barb out of her arm. The only thing is that she has a lot of bruising and her upper arm is hurt from where she got pierced, so we're going to have to leave her in bed for a while."

"When you say 'a while', how long do you think she'll have to be here?" Alex asked.

"Our best guess is a few days. We won't really know anything until she wakes up or shows some signs of recovery," Trish said. "Until then, we'll just have to let her sleep it off."

"OK," Alex said, feeling relieved that Kaitlyn was going to be okay. Turning to look at Seth, Alex said "Seth, come on. Let's leave so that Kaitlyn can rest."

"You guys go on. I, think I'm going to stay in here for a while," Seth said.

Seeing the almost pleading look on Seth's face, Alex turned to look up at Ashley and Trish and said "Maybe we should let him stay in here." Seeing the questioning looks on the older women's faces, Alex said "I'll explain out in the hall." Turning back to see Seth watching how Kaitlyn was sleeping, Alex smiled a small smile before walking out of the room after Trish and Ashley had left.

Once Alex was out in the hallway, Trish asked "OK, Alex. Is there something you're not telling us about that girl?"

"It's a bit of a long story, Trish," Alex said, nervously biting her lip.

"We've got time," Trish said. "You can start by telling us why Seth seemed so anxious to stay behind with her."

Knowing that there was no way she could manage to get out of telling Trish and Ashley about Kaitlyn, Alex took a deep breath and began "Well, for starters..."

...

Image after image flashed through Kaitlyn's head as she slept. _Wolves, blood flying, people screaming and crying, a man that had a crazed look on his face, more of the monsters she had been seeing, burning bodies. _The one thing that seemed to really stick out in her dreams was seeing Seth, his brothers, Cody, and several other men turning into wolves. _'What does it all mean?'_ Kaitlyn thought.

It had been three days since she had first fallen asleep after whatever it was had attacked her. Finally managing to open her eyes, Kaitlyn looked up at the ceiling above her and saw fluorescent lights. However, when she tried to sit up, Kaitlyn quickly laid back down as a fresh wave of pain seemed to rocket through her. Looking down at her body, Kaitlyn noticed that she had bandages on her arms, one spot on her upper arm in particular had gauze padding covering some kind of wound, and around her abdomen. "What the?" Kaitlyn blurted upon seeing the bandages.

"Hey. You're finally awake," a familiar voice said.

Looking to her left, Kaitlyn saw Seth sitting in a chair next to the bed she was lying in. Feeling confused and then exposed, Kaitlyn, blushing as she pulled the bedsheets up to cover her bandaged abdomen, asked "Seth? What are you doing here?"

"I've been here for the past three days watching you sleep," Seth said, blushing as he saw that Kaitlyn was covering herself. "I didn't feel right leaving you alone, so I kept a watch over you."

"Wait a minute. I've been asleep for _three days_?" Kaitlyn asked, the length of time she had been sleeping surprising her.

"Yeah," Seth said. Seeing the still confused look on Kaitlyn's face, Seth hesitantly said "You should be feeling relieved. Not everyone survives getting stung by a monster like that."

"It just still feels so crazy that that even happened to me," Kaitlyn said, the memories of getting attacked by that man-But, who was she kidding? That wasn't a man-feeling like fresh wounds. Another memory from that night seemed to stick out at her; she still wasn't sure if she imagined it all, but seeing Seth with yellow eyes, claws, and sharp teeth seemed to be a recurring thing in the dreams she had over the days she had been sleeping. Looking back over to Seth to see him going on talking about something, Kaitlyn couldn't bring herself to believe that the Seth sitting in the room with her now was the same Seth that she saw fight that, that _thing_.

Seeing Kaitlyn looking at him funny, Seth asked "Uh, you okay there, Kait?"

Not really finding the right way to get out what was on her mind, Kaitlyn blurted "What are you?"

With it being his turn to be confused, Seth let out a short chuckle before saying "Uh, beg your pardon?"

Moving over in the bed as she tried to slowly inch away from Seth, Kaitlyn said "I, I saw you. The other night, you had claws, and fangs, and, and, yellow eyes."

Masking his surprise that Kaitlyn could even remember what happened to her, Seth said "I have no idea what you're talking about, Kait. You were probably just seeing things that night."

"Don't lie to me, Seth!" Kaitlyn yelled, catching Seth offguard with her outburst. Seeing that she fully had Seth's attention on her, Kaitlyn decided to go on with the thoughts that were on her mind for the past few days. "Remember that morning I came to you, Cody, and Alex's apartment and you told me that stuff about 'wolf spirits' saving me from whatever that snake thing was that got my ankle? Well, I did some research of my own on New Orleans legends. And the only thing that I found that seemed to be the answer I was looking for was stuff about loup-garous. Then there was the other night where you pretty much almost turn into a monster yourself. _Please_, _Seth._ Don't lie to me anymore. I can't take feeling like I'm left out of a loop that could give me more answers about why I see the things I see and what's been happening to me."

Seeing the broken look on Kaitlyn's face as tears rolled down her face, Seth couldn't help but feel bad that he was hiding a huge part of who-and what-he was from someone who belonged in his world. _'Kaitlyn just wants answers. She's already found out about the legends of the loup-garou, and she's seen me in partial shift. I don't see _why _I can't tell her,'_ Seth thought. Letting out a breath, Seth said "OK, Kaitlyn. You're right."

"And what am I right about, exactly?" Kaitlyn asked as she wiped at her face.

"About me lying and leaving you out of the loop of things. It's not fair to you, it's not fair to me; hell, it's not fair to _anyone_ that you're so in the dark about this stuff," Seth said.

"Does, this mean that I'm finally going to get some _real_ answers from you?" Kaitlyn asked, crossing her arms. "I don't think I could deal if I got any more lies from you."

Chuckling a bit at how Kaitlyn's headstrong attitude was reminding him of Leva's, Seth said "OK, Kaitlyn. I guess it's about time you got some answers. _Real_ answers, that is."

Feeling both surprise and relief flood through her, Kaitlyn smiled as she said "Wow. Thanks, Seth."

"It's no problem, Kait," Seth said, smiling at the two-toned woman. "Just ask away and I'll answer the questions as honestly as I can."

"OK," Kaitlyn said. Really taking the time to look around the room she was in, Kaitlyn asked "For starters, can you tell me where I am? I'm pretty sure this isn't any room of the Heights I've ever been in."

"That's because we're not at the Heights," Seth said. "Right now, we're in one of two infirmaries in the house that me, Cody, and Alex _really_ live in."

"So, that story you told me the first day I found out you three were staying at the Heights, that was all a lie?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Yeah. The real reason we were staying at the Heights was, because of you," Seth said, hesitantly getting the last of his sentence out.

"Because of _me?_" Kaitlyn asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "Is it because I can see the Chitters, those monsters, and a lot of the other stuff I can see?"

"You'd be right in asking that," Seth said. "You might find this next part hard to believe, but, like you, Alex, me, Cody, and my brothers, everyone in this house can see the stuff that we see."

"Are you for real?" Kaitlyn asked, surprised. Getting a nod from Seth as her answer, Kaitlyn sat back on the bed as she said "This is so crazy. I, honestly never knew people like me were out there."

Smiling a sympathetic smile at Kaitlyn, Seth said "That's because we've all been, more or less, isolated from the general population. After all, I'm pretty sure you'd never know that a whole family lives out here in an old plantation house in the woods."

"Wait. We're actually out in the woods? Cut off from the rest of the city?" Kaitlyn asked, her nerves starting to shoot through the roof.

"Whoa there, Kait," Seth said, trying to calm the two-toned woman down. "There's no need to be so worried. This place is safe. It's warded like the Heights is and everyone here knows how to defend themselves if they have to deal with any of the monsters that you've been exposed to, the guys more than the girls."

"What do you mean when you say the guys more than the girls?" Kaitlyn asked. "Does this have anything to do with you looking like Wolverine a few nights ago?"

Hearing Kaitlyn bring up his partial shift, Seth sighed and said "Yeah. You know all that loup-garou stuff you said you found out? That's what me and guys here are."

Even though she had been wanting answers about what had been happening and to help back up her research, Kaitlyn couldn't quite seem to believe that Seth, and possibly Cody and his brothers, were all loup-garous. Laughing off what Seth told her, Kaitlyn said "Yeah right. And I'm the Tooth Fairy."

"Yeah, should've seen that coming," Seth said, scratching the back of his head. Seth simply sat as Kaitlyn laughed at what he told her. Once he noticed that she had stopped laughing, Seth said "I wasn't lying."

Seeing that Seth was serious, Kaitlyn shrank away a bit and said "I, I didn't mean to laugh at you. Really. I thought it was a joke. Please, please don't hurt me."

"Hurt you? Kaitlyn, I'd never do such a thing," Seth said, trying to get Kaitlyn to loosen up. "It's just, I didn't know how to tell you, so I decided to come out with it and say it. At any rate, you _did_ say you wanted answers."

"I know, Seth. I just wasn't expecting you to outright say that you're some kind of _werewolf_!" Kaitlyn blurted, not caring in that moment that the sheet had fallen down and exposed her bandaged abdomen. Managing to get her feelings back under control, Kaitlyn, in a small voice, asked "Can I, can I see you again? You know, like how you looked that night you and the others saved me from that thing in my apartment?"

Nodding his head, Seth closed his eyes as the familiar sensation of shifting flooded through him. Feeling his canines grow longer and sharper and his fingernails grow into claws, Seth opened his now yellow eyes as he looked at the two-toned woman on the bed. His breathing coming out evenly, Seth, with a slight growl to his voice, asked "Is _this_ what you wanted to see so badly?"

Kaitlyn could only sit on the bed and look over at the two-toned man, surprised that she was actually seeing Seth look so deadly, so feral, yet so in control of himself. Reaching out with her right arm since her left was still sore, Kaitlyn grabbed hold of one of Seth's clawed hands as she brought it into her lap. Tracing the lines of his palm, Kaitlyn ran the tips of her fingers over Seth's claws, feeling the sharp points. Looking up from his hand, Kaitlyn let her gaze drift from the sharp fangs up to the yellow eyes that seemed to burn into her, the same yellow eyes that she remembered from that night in the woods. But, for as much as Kaitlyn felt like she should be scared, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the man in the room with her; because, behind Seth's eyes, Kaitlyn couldn't help but notice what seemed like pain and a loss that was still hurting him. Noticing the almost sad look on the two-toned man's face, Kaitlyn asked "Seth, what's wrong?"

Letting a stray tear roll down his face as he turned away from Kaitlyn and shifted back to his full human self, Seth let out a shaky laugh and said "You're acting just like she did when she first found out what I really am."

"Who's 'she'?" Kaitlyn asked, feeling like this was something she _had_ to know.

"'She' was my former girlfriend," Seth said, smiling at memories of the former love of his life. Standing as he walked to the foot of the bed, Seth said "Her name was Leva Bates. Funny thing is that she was _a lot_ like you. Curious about supernatural stuff, really nice and caring, and good at opening up to people."

"What do you mean when you say she 'was' a lot like me?" Kaitlyn asked.

Sighing as he walked over to the window in the room, Seth said "She's no longer with us. But, when Leva was here, when she was alive, she was one of my best friends."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Seth," Kaitlyn said, feeling bad for Seth.

"It's fine," Seth said, wiping at his eyes to fight back the tears that threatened to slip out. Looking out the window, Seth tried to stop himself from thinking about Leva when what he had just told Kaitlyn really settled in. _'It's always going to be _your_ fault that she died,'_ a nagging whisper of a voice whispered through his mind. Closing his eyes as he tried to fight the tears back, Seth was then surprised by a pair of arms wrapping around him from behind. Looking down to see the bandages, Seth wasn't exactly sure how to react to the fact that Kaitlyn actually got herself out of bed just to come hug him; all he knew was that, in that moment, it felt good being hugged by someone outside of the pack. Turning around in Kaitlyn's embrace, Seth returned the hug, making sure not to hurt Kaitlyn's bad arm or her abdomen.

Feeling Seth return her hug, Kaitlyn found herself melting more into Seth's returned embrace as the two stood like that for a few minutes. Looking up to meet Seth's gaze, Kaitlyn smiled and asked "That help you feel any better?"

"It does a little," Seth said, smiling down at the two-toned woman as he wiped at his face. "Thanks for that, Kait."

"Hey, it's no big deal," Kaitlyn said, shrugging her right shoulder. "Just wanted to make sure you were feeling okay. I know it's probably not easy to talk about a dead ex, so I just wanted to be there for you."

"Again. Thanks," Seth said. As he stayed in the embrace with Kaitlyn, Seth couldn't help but feel raw feelings start to course through him. And, in the next moment, without thinking, he leaned down and caught Kaitlyn's lips with his own. Seth had been expecting Kaitlyn to tell him to stop, so it surprised the two-toned man when Kaitlyn seemed to return his kiss with one of her own. Not wanting Kaitlyn to risk hurting herself by staying out of bed so long, Seth carefully lifted Kaitlyn up bridal style, being careful not to hurt her arms or abdomen, and carried her back to bed. Gently laying Kaitlyn back down, Seth finally found it in himself to pull away. Breathing a bit heavily as he looked into Kaitlyn's hazel eyes, Seth blushed and said "Uh, let me go get you something to eat and find one of the girls to come check on you. You're probably starving."

"Yeah. I, actually am," Kaitlyn said, her own blush starting to color her face. Pulling the sheets back over her, Kaitlyn laid down in the bed and closed her eyes.

Taking one last look at Kaitlyn's resting self, Seth left the infirmary as he headed to the kitchen in the hopes of finding Alex all while his kiss with Kaitlyn bounced around in his mind; it was so unexpected, and yet, he found himself wanting more. _'She just might be the _one_ for me. But, I can't make any snap moves just yet,'_ Seth thought. _'I don't want to claim her as my Mate, just yet, only for something bad to happen to her. I don't think I could take it if something happened to Kaitlyn.'_

**Recap Time! Looks like Alex and Dean were able to get Kaitlyn to the pack house in time enough to get Scorpios barb out of her arm...well, Alex more than Dean (Dean decided to keep a lookout for Cody, Seth, and Roman for when they showed up). After two of the pack house nurses, Trish and Ashley, were able to get Kaitlyn patched up, Alex and Seth decided to pay her a visit only to see that Kaitlyn was sleeping (emergency life or death surgeries can do that to you). While Seth decided to stay behind and keep a watch over Kaitlyn, Alex found herself having to explain to Trish and Ashley what Seth's deal with wanting to be close to Kaitlyn was (I didn't type it, but she explained that Seth saw Leva in Kaitlyn). Now we switch over to Kaitlyn. Turns out during the _three days_ while she was sleeping, Kaitlyn was having some rather odd and disturbing visions. Waking up, Kaitlyn gets surprised by, not just the pain she was feeling, but also the bandages that are covering her body and Seth being in the room with her (that much was obvious when she covered herself with the bedsheets). While Seth goes on talking to her, Kaitlyn doesn't quite believe that the Seth in the room with her is the same guy that she saw pretty much go crazy on the man(Scorpios) that attacked her. When Kaitlyn finally brings up what she'd found through her research, Seth decides that he can't hide it any longer and tells Kaitlyn the truth that he, Cody, and the other guys in the pack house are all loup-garous. Naturally, Kaitlyn just laughs it off (Who wouldn't if they were just told by somebody that they were some kind of werewolf?)...until she sees that Seth's serious about it. At first Kaitlyn gets scared, but after being calmed down by Seth, Kaitlyn asks if she can see him the way he looked that night he saved her. Seth obliges and gives Kaitlyn another glimpse of him in partial shift...but, instead of being scared like he thought she'd be, Seth finds Kaitlyn entranced by him in this state. Shifting back to full human, Seth (a bit tearfully) then tells Kaitlyn a little bit about Leva. Kaitlyn then finds out that the girl Seth told her about, Leva Bates, was his girlfriend that got killed somehow. Seeing that the story was a bit raw for Seth to tell, Kaitlyn decides to give Seth a hug. Feeling comfortable in the embrace, Seth feels better and then...the ultimate surprise happens: He and Kaitlyn have their first kiss. After leaving Kaitlyn alone as he leaves to go find her food, Seth can't help but feel a craving for more from Kaitlyn...he's not sure whether it's his Mating instincts acting up (and I will cover Mates soon in this) or what, all he knows is that he doesn't want anything bad to happen to Kaitlyn. Now, my dolls, we move on to more of Kaitlyn's recovery as she experiences life at the pack house. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)  
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**I feel the need to point out the Leva Bates I'm using in this. For the NXT watchers reading this, remember the chick 'cutely' nicknamed Blue Pants by Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy that's pretty much been squashed by Carmella in her first couple of matches? That's Leva. Just wanted to get that out there. ^^**


End file.
